Anchor Drop, August 4, 2021: 31 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

We are now 31 days away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against East Tennessee State. As of now, there’s no 31 on the roster — and last year’s 31, walk-on linebacker AJ Walsh, is no longer on the roster.

The football team doesn’t officially open fall camp until Friday, but today is reporting day. Vanderbilt will go full-pads for the first time on August 12 and will have two Saturday scrimmages ahead of the September 4 season opener.

Meanwhile, 21 former Commodores are in NFL camp.

Robbie Weinstein runs down Vanderbilt’s 10 most important players for 2021 (and actually lists 11, but who’s counting.)

And in the latest stanza of Realignmentpalooza, the Big 12 and Pac-12 are talking about a “partnership.” What that means, exactly, is not entirely clear. Why they wouldn’t just merge to create a 20-team super conference, well, that’s for you, the reader, to figure out.