DL Rutger Reitmaier will enroll at Vanderbilt

On Wednesday, Vanderbilt’s defensive line got an upgrade... in 2018. We hope.

Rutger Reitmaier, a former four-star defensive tackle from David Lipscomb High School in Nashville, announced via his Twitter that he would be enrolling at Vanderbilt in January 2018 and playing for the Commodores.

Reitmaier signed with Oregon out of high school and was an early enrollee for the Ducks in January. So that’s where things get complicated. He never played in a game for the Ducks (hell, he never even made it to fall practice), but because he did enroll there he’s considered a transfer under NCAA rules.

That means that he’s required to spend two semesters in residence before he can play football at Vanderbilt. If he’s enrolling in January, his second semester of residence would be Fall 2018 — meaning he wouldn’t be eligible to play next season. It seems likely that Vanderbilt will request a waiver, though, to allow him to play in 2018.

That could be very helpful to a defensive line that will be losing Nifae Lealao, Jay Woods, and Jonathan Wynn.