Vanderbilt Football Defensive Takeaways After Day 10 of Fall Camp

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt football returned to practice for the first time since the team played its first scrimmage Saturday.

After 10 days of practice, Vanderbilt’s offense and defense seem to be starting to take shape in terms of who and what stands out, but there is always room for improvement before the second scrimmage of fall camp.

Defensively, there were a few things that stood out. Here are the defensive takeaways after Monday’s practice.

The Run Defense Had Some Ups and Downs

Coming out of the first scrimmage, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea talked about how he would have liked to see his defense be better particularly in the outside part of the run game.

Monday’s practice felt like a mix of results in that department. For some parts of practice, the rush defense had some good reps both on the outer parts and on the inside part of the defensive line. But for all the good reps there were, there were also some other reps where the run defense looked like it got beat.

In the run defense, Vanderbilt standouts were Tate Hamby's blitzing ability and Jaylon Stone's push in the trenches for a lot of the time. The two were both involved and made things happen against the offensive line and blockers that were in their way.

The way in which the run defense progresses throughout the rest of camp will be interesting to watch. But overall, Vanderbilt’s running back room is deep and has looked the part in camp, so they deserve credit as well.

Downfield Coverage Looked Solid

Based on Saturday’s scrimmage, it looked like Vanderbilt’s secondary could have done better in coverage on the perimeter and down the field. It felt like players let pass catchers get a step down the field more than coaches would have liked.

However, that was not so much the case in Monday’s practice. The play from the secondary looked nice overall. The coverage down field looked tighter and did not let pass catchers find much open space in a majority of reps.

Guys that Vanderbilt expects to make plays such as cornerback Martel Hight and safety Ricardo Jones had their moments where they made plays. Cornerback Jordan Matthews had a good practice as well. But Vanderbilt cornerback Cayden Daniels was especially good in coverage during the practice.

Daniels looked like he was playing sticky coverage throughout the practice. When the ball came near him, he did his job far more times than not. Daniels’ development has been one of the more intriguing storylines of Vanderbilt’s defense throughout fall camp. The way he has performed down the recent stretch of practices has made Vanderbilt’s cornerback look a little deeper than it may have looked before camp.

The question that remains, though, is if Vanderbilt will be able to bring the type of coverage it had Monday into practice the rest of the week and into the second scrimmage.

A Few Defensive Practice Standouts

Outside of those schematic takeaways, here is a list of who all stood out individually in practice and why.

Tate Hamby: Again, Hamby had a really good day in practice. Hamby was able to find holes in the offensive line and puncture them to find his way into the backfield. He had a couple good plays early in practice, but really turned his performance up a notch in the late stages. He had his moments both with his blitzing in both run and pass defense.

Mason Lewis: The freshman Mason Lewis has become another good defensive story to follow throughout fall camp. Lewis was another one of the guys that had some really good reps in coverage Monday and found ways to make plays as well. Though it may be a challenge for him to find a ton of meaningful minutes this fall, the promise he has shown in camp really shows how strong Vanderbilt’s safety room is.

Josiah Broxton: Broxton has been a depth guy in the linebacker room that has made plays here and there throughout camp. Monday, he made a couple more plays. Broxton was disruptive over the middle of the field and was good in pass rush with getting downhill and into the backfield.

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