Vanderbilt Football Post-Camp Depth Chart Projection: Defense

This weekend in college football is Week 0, or the technical beginning to the 2026 college football season. It also marks just one week until Vanderbilt football to kickoff its 2026 season and a new era of Commodore football.

Throughout the month of August, Vanderbilt and every other team in the country has been going through fall camp. Over the course of camp, guys on Vanderbilt’s defense showed out and improved their stock as the season is approaching.

With that being said, who will start for Vanderbilt’s defense and who are other guys to watch out for? Here is the Vandy On SI depth chart projection for Vanderbilt’s defense.

EDGE

Starters: Miles Capers and Brian Allen Jr.

Next Up: Edwin Kolenge and Mason Carter

Others to Watch: Jake Stanish

Compared to the pre-fall camp depth chart projection there was not much movement in the EDGE room from what happened during fall camp. It would be a shock if Miles Capers was not the top guy in the room going into his sixth season at Vanderbilt. Iowa transfer Brian Allen Jr. also had a nice fall camp and established himself as the No. 2 guy in the room.

Where there was change was Boston College transfer Edwin Kolenge jumping ahead of Mason Carter for the third spot in the position room. Kolenge had a really nice showing in fall camp and did outperform Carter throughout camp as well. Carter will still have an important role in the defense this season, but Kolenge boosted his stock over the past few weeks.

Defensive Line

Starters: Issa Ouattara and Glenn Seabrooks III

Next Up: Jaylon Stone and Aaron Bryant

Others to Watch: Bradley Mann

Issa Ouattara will have an impact for the Vanderbilt defensive line after missing essentially the entire 2025 season. He played a few snaps in the first couple weeks of last season, but a shoulder injury caused him to miss nearly the entire year. He is back, though, and seems more than ready to make his veteran presence felt on defense.

Jaylon Stone looks improved heading into this season and is sure to make an impact with Vanderbilt’s run defense. He caused plenty of havoc getting into the Vanderbilt backfield during camp and hopes to bring that to the gridiron this season. Aaron Bryant had a solid fall camp and is fourth in the position room.

Safeties

Starters: CJ Heard and Ricardo Jones

Next Up: Dontae Carter and Davin Chandler

Others to Watch: Jalen Gilbert and Mason Lewis

Unsurprisingly, the starters at the safety spot go unchanged compared to the pre-camp depth chart projection. Heard and Jones are going to lead the room. Jones turned a corner toward the end of camp that looked like the program was starting to reap the rewards of investing in him.

Dontae Carter comes in at third on the safety depth chart. If it was not for Jones or Heard, Carter would be starting on defense. But Vanderbilt’s safety room is deep, which bumps Carter down to the “Next Up” category. Make no mistake, however, Carter’s performance down the final stretch of camp proved he is a super reliable guy that can come into a game and perform when called upon.

For the first week of fall camp, it looked like Davin Chandler could have passed Carter on the depth chart, but his playmaking hit a wall toward the end of camp while Carter was stringing good practices together. Mason Lewis is now a guy to watch, where he was not listed before fall camp. It is tough to gauge how much playing time he will get during the season, but Lewis did show in camp that the future of the safety room is looking up.

STAR

Starter: Carson Lawrence

Next Up: Jailen Ruth

Carson Lawrence is likely going to be the winner of the STAR room over Jailen Ruth. Though Ruth did have good days in camp and a fine fall camp overall, Lawrence just looked better overall than Ruth.

This is not a situation where Lawrence will get significantly more playing time than Ruth will. Ruth should be expected to play a lot of meaningful snaps, but he probably will not be in the starting role, at least in the beginning of the season. It is a possibility Ruth could eventually take over Lawrence, but Ruth did not show that he surpassed him during fall camp.

Cornerbacks

Starters: Martel Hight and Jordan Matthews

Next Up: Cayden Daniels and Jaylin Lackey

Others to Watch: Mustafa Dannett

Going into fall camp the question was whether Jordan Matthews was going to establish himself as a top two cornerback on the roster. Now that it is the end of fall camp, Matthews absolutely earned himself a starting spot with the way he played in coverage in camp. In fact, Matthews could be closer to Martel Hight than he is to Cayden Daniels.

That is not shade to Daniels, though. Daniels had an outstanding fall camp and created a lot of separation between him and the guys below him in the cornerback room. Daniels was named Vandy On SI’s defensive MVP of fall camp. The splash plays Daniels made combined with the discipline he showed in coverage earned him the No. 3 spot in the room.

Linebackers

Starters: Bryan Longwell and Nick Rinaldi

Next Up: Bryce Cowan and Austin Howard

Others to Watch: Jamison Curtis and Josiah Broxton

The top of the linebacker room did not change much now that fall camp is over. The Vanderbilt linebackers are by far the surest position room it has on defense. The fact that a veteran like Bryce Cowan is the No. 3 option in this room shows how deep and skilled the linebacker room is in Nashville. Bryan Longwell and Nick Rinaldi are both going to be the heart and soul of the Vanderbilt defense this season.

The only slight change made from the pre-camp projection was Austin Howard’s elevation to the fourth spot in the room, passing Jamison Curtis. Curtis had some nice days during camp, but Howard had the better camp overall compared to Curtis and thus pulled ahead of him. The two could be seen as 4A and 4B options.

Josiah Broxton raised his stock in the room and is now in the “Others to Watch” category with the way his fall camp went. He may not see as much playing time compared to the guys ahead of him, but Broxton showed he can still come off the bench and be productive.

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