When viewing the Vanderbilt Commodores its hard to be impressed with what they have
returning on offense. After a descent sophmore year QB Chris Nickson struggled in his junior campaign. Mackenzi Adams stepped in and played well at times last
season but lacked the consistency to win football games as The Commodores were shut out of bowl contention yet again. It will be key for The Commodores to find
consistency at the position if they want to have an effective attack on offense. Bobby Johnson is a good coach and it should not go unnoticed that he has built
this team into a competitive bunch who have been on the verge of making a bowl game for 3 years now. Below is a preview of how The Commodores offense may look
in 2008:
QB 3 Chris Nickson (6-1, 210, R-Sr.)
-or- 9 Mackenzi Adams (6-2, 212, R-Jr.)
TB 21 Jeff Jennings (6-1, 215, R-Sr.)
-or- 31 Jared Hawkins (5-10, 200, R-Jr.)
WR 80 Justin Wheeler (6-0, 175, R-Jr.)
Udom Umoh (5-11, 170, R-Fr.)
WR 88 George Smith (6-3, 202, R-Sr.)
4 Alex Washington (5-10, 180, R-Jr.)
WR 7 Sean Walker (6-0, 175, R-Sr.)
36 Chris Reinert (5-9, 180, R-Jr.)
26 Andrew Diomande (6-1, 195, R-Sr.)
TE 85 Jake Bradford (6-6, 270, R-Jr.)
82 Justin Green (6-6, 235, R-So.)
-or- 86 Austin Monahan (6-6, 248, So.)
LT 76 Thomas Welch (6-6, 300, R-Jr.)
65 Kyle Fischer (6-6, 305, R-Fr.)
68 Reilly Lauer (6-6, 265, R-So.)
LG 73 Ryan Custer (6-4, 295, R-Jr.)
61 Nick Forte (6-2, 290, R-Jr.)
69 Garrett Snoeyenbos (6-4, 285, R-Fr.)
C 70 Bradley Vierling (6-3, 292, R-Jr.)
71 Joey Bailey (6-3, 275, R-So.)
63 Chris Aaron (6-3, 290, R-So.)
RG 70 Drew Gardner (6-5, 305, R-Jr.)
79 Ryan Vance (6-3, 285, R-So.)
62 Rob Ashabranner (6-2, 275, R-Fr.)
RT 66 Eric Hensley (6-6, 310, R-Jr.)
77 James Williams (6-6, 305, R-Fr.)
On defense the Commodores return 7 starters from a year ago. They must replace their interior on the
defensive line and hope Greg Billinger and Adam Smotherman can get the job done. Vanderbilt was stingy at times last season on defense. They played well as a
unit but had letdowns that must be fixed if they expect to make a bowl this season. Below is a list of how the Vanderbilt defense may look in
2008:
DE 96 Steven Stone (6-5, 260, R-Jr.)
89 Teriall Brannon (6-3, 235, R-So.)
-or- 42 Tim Fugger (6-4, 250, R-Fr.)
DT 98 Greg Billinger (6-2, 290, Jr.)
99 Derrius Dowell (6-2, 285, R-Jr.)
DT 58 Adam Smotherman (6-4, 280, R-So.)
62 T.J. Greenstone (6-2, 275, R-Fr.)
DE 90 Broderick Stewart (6-5, 228, R-Jr.)
93 Theron Kadri (6-3, 250, So.)
WLB 35 Brandon Bryant (6-1, 230, R-Jr.)
-or- 52 Nate Campbell (6-3, 228, R-So.)
MLB 30 Patrick Benoist (6-0, 218, Jr.)
45 Chris Johnson (6-1, 235, R-Jr.)
-or- 43 Chris Marve (6-0, 238, R-Fr.)
SLB 49 John Stokes (6-5, 238, So.)
91 Austin Newton (6-4, 215, R-So.)
CB 5 Myron Lewis (6-2, 202, Jr.)
20 Jared Fagan (5-10, 182, Sr.)
16 Alan Strong (5-10, 175, R-So.)
SS 33 Reshard Langford (6-2, 210, R-Sr.)
29 Joel Caldwell (6-1, 195, R-Jr.)
FS 2 Ryan Hamilton (6-1, 208, R-Jr.)
11 Brent Trice (6-3, 215, Jr.)
CB 17 D.J. Moore (5-10, 182, Jr.)
14 Josh Allen (5-9, 182, R-Sr.)
25 Jamie Graham (5-11, 180, R-Fr.)
NB 6 Darlron Spead (5-10, 185, R-Jr.)
Schedule:
Date Opponent Site Kickoff
August 28 Miami (Ohio) Oxford, Ohio TBA
September 4 SOUTH CAROLINA Vanderbilt Stadium TBA
September 13 RICE Vanderbilt Stadium TBA
September 20 Ole Miss Oxford, Miss. TBA
October 4 AUBURN Vanderbilt Stadium TBA
October 11 MISS. STATE Starkville, Miss. TBA
October 18 GEORGIA Athens, Ga. TBA
October 25 DUKE Vanderbilt Stadium TBA
November 8 FLORIDA Gainesville, Fla. TBA
November 15 KENTUCKY Lexington, Ky. TBA
November 22 TENNESSEE Vanderbilt Stadium TBA
November 29 Wake Forest Winston-Salem, N.C. TBA
Projected Finish:
5-7 (2-6) 6th SEC East
Hubbs Overview: You know the old saying "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a merry christmas" no other statement seems to fit the
bill better than when you think of Vanderbilt. They will have a formidable defense this season but may struggle to stop the running game at times. I believe
they will struggle on offense and will need to find a go-to WR and a better running attack. "If" Nickson or Adams can show consistency at QB and
Smith can step up at WR and replace the void left by Earl Bennett the Commodores may have a chance of pulling off a upset or two. They have come close the past
few years at getting one of the big boys in the conference. Could this be the year it happens?
Source Vanderbilt Commodores website
