2015 Vanderbilt Football Roster: Who's Gone, Who's Back, and How Does 2016 Look?

Spring practice is underway in Nashville, and that means that the latest version of the Vanderbilt Commodores' football roster has been published and is ready for analysis. The listing is missing a lot of names that the Vandy faithful have gotten accustomed to hearing and there are only a few new faces to replace them before this February's recruiting class rolls in.

Fortunately, we can start counting those chickens before they hatch. Thanks to National Signing Day we have a pretty good idea of which high school players will be continuing their football careers at Natchez Trace. Today, we'll break down where the Vanderbilt roster stands after last year's 3-9 campaign.

First, here's all the scholarship players from 2014 that either graduated or otherwise left the program leading up to 2015.

Departing Scholarship Players	Position	Reason?
Casey Hughes"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Casey Hughes	LB/DB	Graduated
Andrew East"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Andrew East	SN	Graduated
Barron Dixon"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Barron Dixon	DL	Graduated
Andrew Bridges"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Andrew Bridges	OL	Graduated
Vince Taylor"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Vince Taylor	DL	Graduated
Joe Townsend"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Joe Townsend	OL	Graduated
Davis Dudchock"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Davis Dudchock	TE	Graduated
Dillon van der Wal	TE	Graduated
Kyle Woestmann"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Kyle Woestmann	DE/LB	Graduated
Trey Wilkins	WR	Graduated
Stephen Rivers"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Stephen Rivers	QB	Returned to his home planet
Brian Kimbrow"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Brian Kimbrow	RB	Dismissed
Jerron Seymour"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jerron Seymour	RB	Dismissed
Paris Head"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Paris Head	CB	Quit football altogether
Josh Grady"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Josh Grady	QB/WR	Graduated, declined final year of eligibility
Taylor Hudson"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Taylor Hudson*	P	Graduated, declined final year of eligibility
Jimmy Stewart"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Jimmy Stewart	LB/DE	Graduated, declined final year of eligibility
Derek King"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Derek King	RB	Graduated, declined final year of eligibility
Gerald Perry	WR	Transferred (Junior College)
Hawkins Mann	LB	No longer on roster
Mitchell Parsons	TE	Transferred (Colorado State)
Jordan Cunningham	WR	Left the program
Mack Weaver	TE	No longer on roster

There are 23 players that were on the Vandy roster to begin 2014 that won't play for the team this fall. The majority of these athletes were either departing seniors or high profile dismissals like Brian Kimbrow or Jerron Seymour. A few of the players that aren't on the 2015 spring roster are surprises. Linebacker Hawkins Mann made an impact early on as a true freshman, but he isn't listed with his teammates. Neither are a handful of fifth-year players who still had remaining seasons of NCAA eligibility. Josh Grady, Taylor Hudson, Jimmy Stewart, and Derek King were slated for small roles as backups this fall and decided to move on after graduating.

Those 23 departing players will be replaced by the 18 debuting athletes from the recruiting class of 2015. A quick look at the roster gives us this estimate of scholarship players for the upcoming season.

Offensive Scholarship Players: 42

Defensive Scholarship Players: 37

Special Teams Scholarship Players (estimate): 3

This estimate leaves Vandy three scholarships under the 85-person limit for Division I football teams, but this count may not have accounted for walk-ons that have played their way to a tuition check like Marc Panu did in 2012. As a result, this spring and summer could be very important for some hard-working scout team players.

Meanwhile, the Commodore offense is stocked with young talent but short on veteran leadership for 2015. Vandy has only three seniors that will see significant playing time this fall - Kris Kentera, Steven Scheu, and Jake Bernstein. 30 of the team's 42 offensive scholarship players have one year of NCAA experience or less.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown of how Vanderbilt looks as the season looms:

The Vanderbilt Offense:

Quarterback

Quarterbacks (5)	Year
Patton Robinette"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Patton Robinette	RS Jr.
Johnny McCrary	RS So.
Wade Freebeck	So.
Shawn Stankavage	RS Fr.
Kyle Shurmur	Fr.

Players for 2016: Five.

Vanderbilt will return three of the four players who started at quarterback in 2014. Only Stephen Rivers has left the team. Barring another early departure, they'll bring back every passer on the roster in 2016.

Running Back

Running Backs (5)	Year
Darrius Sims	RS Jr.
Ralph Webb	RS So.
Dallas Rivers	So.
Jaire George	Fr.
Josh Crawford	Fr.

Players for 2016: Five.

Like at quarterback, the Commodores will rely on five players who will be eligible to return to the team in 2016. However, Vandy is less equipped at the position. Sims is a convert from cornerback and George is an under-the-radar prospect that barely snuck onto recruiting boards this spring. They'll need Ralph Webb to be a steady workhorse once again in 2015.

Fullback

Fullbacks (1)	Year
Ladarius Banks	RS So.

Players for 2016: One.

Fullbacks traditionally do little in Vanderbilt's offensive schemes besides block. Throwing a former defensive lineman at oncoming linebackers should be a lot of fun, at the very least.

Wide Receiver

Wide Receivers (11)	Year
Kris Kentera	Sr.
Latevius Rayford	Jr.
Chandler Dorrell	RS So.
C.J. Duncan	RS So.
DeAndre Woods	RS So.
Trey Ellis	So.
Caleb Scott	So.
Trent Sherfield	So.
Ronald Monroe	RS Fr.
Rashad Canty	RS Fr.
Jared Pinkney	Fr.

Players for 2016: 10.

Vanderbilt's receiving corps...how do I put this delicately?...needed some work in 2014. For instance:

Thanks, Karl! That will put plenty of pressure on players like Rayford, Duncan, and Kentera to break out under new offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. There's plenty of depth here. Vandy lost four wideouts from 2014 and will still have 11 scholarship players vying for snaps this fall. If Vandy can finally introduce some consistency at quarterback then we'll see much greater contributions at WR in 2015.

Tight Ends

Tight End (5)	Year
Steven Scheu	Sr.
Nathan Marcus	RS So.
Sean Dowling	RS So.
Sam Dobbs	Fr.
Kyle Anderton	Fr.

Players for 2016: Four.

Steven Scheu had a breakout season in Mason's tight end-heavy offense last season. He more than doubled his career statistics and led the Commodores in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Things get a bit thin after him thanks to the departures of Davis Dudchock, Dillon van der Wal, and Mitch Parsons. Nathan Marcus showed off solid hands and a knack for getting to the end zone, but there's a definite lack of experience behind Vandy's top two tight ends.

Offensive Line

Offensive Line (15)	Year
Jake Bernstein	Sr.
Spencer Pulley"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Spencer Pulley	RS Jr.
Kevin McCoy"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Kevin McCoy	RS Jr.
Andrew Jelks"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Andrew Jelks	Jr.
Blake Fromang"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Blake Fromang	Jr.
Barrett Gouger"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Barrett Gouger	Jr.
Will Holden"]" style="padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Will Holden	Jr.
Delando Crooks	RS So.
Bailey Granier	RS Fr.
Bruno Reagan	RS Fr.
Cole Hardin	RS Fr.
Darien DeBrossard	Fr.
Ean Pfeifer	Fr.
Justin Skule	Fr.
Jared Southers	Fr.

Players for 2016: 14.

Vandy has a lot of emerging talent in the trenches, which is encouraging when you recall how poorly this unit played last season. Former state wrestling champion Bruno Reagan is up to 330 pounds after weighing in at around 290 in high school. Will Holden rounded into a solid starter after taking over for Andrew Bridges last year. Now, the 'Dores will hope Keven Lightner is the right man to mold this group into one of the SEC's most effective units.

Tomorrow, we'll dig into the defense and figure out where Vanderbilt is stacked on the other side of the ball. Spoiler alert: there's a lot more young guys to sort through.