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It appears that Vanderbilt’s early signing period is done. 19 players signed with the Commodores today. We’ve been putting out individual profiles of all of the new signees, but here is a quick index of all the players that signed with Vanderbilt:
2019 Signees
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Hometown | High School | Composite Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Hometown | High School | Composite Rank |
| Anfernee Orji | S | 6'2" | 210 | Rockwall, TX | Rockwall | 461 |
| Dontye Carriere-Williams | CB | 5'11" | 190 | Miami, FL | Independence CC | 36 (JC) |
| Daevion Davis | DL | 6'2" | 310 | Madison, AL | James Clemens | 684 |
| Devin Boddie Jr. | WR | 5'11" | 175 | Memphis, TN | Whitehaven | 868 |
| Jayden Harrison | WR | 5'10" | 190 | Antioch, TN | Pearl-Cohn | 909 |
| Christian James | DE | 6'5" | 255 | Germantown, TN | Christian Brothers | 978 |
| Justin Harris | S | 6'1" | 175 | Southside, AL | Etowah | 1016 |
| Keyon Brooks | RB | 6'1" | 205 | Powder Springs, GA | Kennesaw Mountain | 1065 |
| Joel DeCoursey | TE | 6'4" | 245 | Zionsville, IN | Zionsville Community | 1093 |
| Jamil Muhammad | QB | 6'2" | 215 | Madison, AL | James Clemens | 1228 |
| Donald Fitzgerald | OT | 6'8" | 280 | Nashville, TN | Hillsboro | 1326 |
| Jaylen Mahoney | CB | 5'11" | 180 | Rock Hill, SC | South Pointe | 1380 |
| Julian Hernandez | OG | 6'4" | 300 | Davie, FL | St. Thomas Aquinas | 1428 |
| JR Tran-Reno | RB | 6'1" | 205 | Birmingham, AL | Briarwood Christian | 1724 |
| Justin Ball | TE | 6'6" | 240 | Glenn Dale, MD | Gonzaga College | 1810 |
| Gabe Jeudy | CB | 6'1" | 170 | Charlotte, NC | Ardrey Kell | 1844 |
| Brandon Maddox | DT | 6'3" | 280 | North Augusta, SC | Pima CC | 193 (JC) |
| Nate Clifton | DE | 6'5" | 260 | LaVergne, TN | Brentwood Academy | 2197 |
| Jared Wheatley | P | 6'0" | 180 | Matthews, NC | Porter Ridge | 3022 |
Links to Anchor of Gold profiles on each signee:
Breakdown by State
- Tennessee: 5
- Alabama: 4
- Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina: 2 each
- Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Texas: 1 each
One notable feature in this year’s signing class is that the coaching staff didn’t hit up the West Coast at all. That had been a feature of the last few signing classes, but it appears that the coaching staff has built up enough regional contacts to not have to do that any more. This year, 10 of 19 signees come from within 300 miles of campus, and the farthest-away signee (not counting the JUCO guys) is Julian Hernandez, who’s from the Miami area. The staff hit up metro Nashville for Harrison, Fitzgerald, and Clifton; metro Memphis for James and Boddie; north Alabama for Davis, Tran-Reno, Muhammad, and Harris; and metro Charlotte for Jeudy, Mahoney, and Wheatley. DeCoursey is from metro Indianapolis, Ball is from metro D.C., Brooks is from metro Atlanta, and Orji is from Dallas/Fort Worth.
Breakdown by Position
- QB: 1
- RB: 2
- WR: 2
- TE: 2
- OL: 2
- DL: 4
- DB: 5
- ST: 1
This year’s class is heavy on defensive linemen and defensive backs, which were two areas of need. It doesn’t have a single linebacker (Kendall Young, the one linebacker in the class, decommitted yesterday), though Anfernee Orji might well end up there. It’s also fairly light on offensive linemen — though offensive tackle prospect Brayden Bapst is still expected to sign in February, and Justin Ball or Nate Clifton might end up on the offensive line.
Who’s still out there?
Brayden Bapst, as mentioned, is expected to sign in February. RB Delbert Mimms and TE Jeff Blake did not sign this week and apparently don’t intend to. We’ll see about that, but it’s worth pointing out that the two commitments last year who didn’t sign early — Miles Jones and Rayshad Williams — wound up going elsewhere (Jones to Nebraska, Williams to UCLA.)