Guys don't normally show up to Vanderbilt in the way freshman safety Dontae Carter has.

Carter has expectation, buzz and a path to a starting role like few have throughout head coach Clark Lea's tenure.

"Playmaker," Vanderbilt safety Marlen Sewell touts Carter. "Wherever the ball at he gonna be at."

That seems to be a sentiment among those who have seen Carter up close and personal. Vanderbilt seems to view the freshman safety as a difference maker on a back end that has lacked them.

Carter was ranked Vanderbilt's lone four star in the 2024 class by Rivals and was the nation's 22nd ranked safety.

Vanderbilt's defense heavily featured Carter in the spring, the expectation is that a statement like that will also ring true in the fall.

"He's a young guy and I'm looking up to him just making plays," Sewell said on Wednesday.

The praise for Vanderbilt's young, athletic safety has gone back years.

Vanderbilt has long known that it needs Carter to step up and to make plays the way Sewell believes he can.

"Dontae is a guy we think can come in and have an immediate impact," Lea said. "He's gonna have to earn it and he knows that nothing will be given to him but we believe in his abilities, we love his mentality."