Vanderbilt Football 2026 Depth Chart Projection: Quarterback
In this story:
Vandy on SI’s projected depth chart:
Starter: Jared Curtis
Backup: Blaze Berlowitz
Others to watch: Jack Elliott, Whit Muschamp
Room storyline:
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea says he’s got a quarterback competition on his hands and likely won’t name a starter until the days prior to Vanderbilt’s opener against Austin Peay.
As a result, buckle up.
Five-star freshman Jared Curtis is the frontrunner for the job, but program sources insist that everyone else will get their fair chances at beating Curtis out.
“What we want to do is select the guy that best positions our team to win,” Lea told Vandy on SI prior to the spring. “There's no reason for us to make that decision right now and yet I think as we go through spring we’ll probably hopefully have a clear picture of it and I think as you start to really kinda hone in on the preparation for the season it's nice when you know who QB1 is, but that's a luxury.”
Curtis is the logical choice due to his pedigree and ceiling, but Vanderbilt hasn’t yet cut reps from any of its four options and appears to like aspects of each of their games.
Three players to watch:
Jared Curtis
Curtis is a program-changing recruit that is Vanderbilt’s most talented quarterback since Jay Cutler. The question, though, is how quickly he can approach his ceiling.
The spring was up and down at times for Curtis, but the flashes were enough to give everyone in the building belief that he can be Vanderbilt quarterback of the future.
“The way he manipulates arm angles reminds me a lot of what we see from Matthew Stafford,” Lea said.“All the physical traits are there. I mean, it’s really pretty to watch him throw. I love the way he can adjust his arm angle.”
Lea says not to expect any Vanderbilt quarterback to produce this year like Diego Pavia did a year ago, but Curtis could have a highlight reel as good as any Vanderbilt quarterback by the time his freshman season is over.
The next step for him is consistently owning the operation, making sound decisions and running the offense more smoothly in general.
If he puts it together, oh man.
“He believes in himself, he has courage, he has the physical traits to get himself out of trouble,” Lea said. “I think from the physical trade standpoint, he's there.”
Blaze Berlowitz
Here’s the question; can Berlowitz demonstrate that Vanderbilt can trust him?
Berlowitz has a unique blend of size and arm talent, but he’s often put the ball in compromising positions in practice and has been too streaky to beat out Curtis at this stage.
The advantage Berlowitz has is that–despite not starting a game and only having thrown 17 passes since arriving at Vanderbilt in 2024–he’s the most experienced in the room. Berlowitz has the system experience and has closely watched Pavia operate the offense for a number of seasons. Now he’s got to do it himself, though.
Berlowitz had a strong stretch early in spring ball, but he’ll have to build on that with a strong fall to get on the field.
Jack Elliott
Elliott is almost the forgotten man in Vanderbilt’s quarterback room at this point, and that’s an indicator that it’s a higher-quality room than it has been previously.
Lea calls Elliott a “bulldog” and has compared his mindset to Pavia in the past. He’s not the biggest or most talented guy in the room—and likely won’t start—but Vanderbilt believes in him if he ever gets on the field.
Elliott joined Vanderbilt in the summer last year rather than early enrolling, which set him back. Now, he appears to have a better handle on things.
“He's done a really good job up to this point,” Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck said this spring. “That's part of the reason we wanted to make sure we went live on the quarterbacks, 'cause we knew Jack would be able to show some things that he, maybe can't show if we don't go live and he's done well when we had those live opportunities. He's still got some areas that he's got to get better at and stuff, but we're really happy with his progress up to this point.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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