Five impact newcomers: defense

VandySports' Justin Angel, Chris Lee and Sean Williams pick five newcomers who'll have the biggest impact on defense for VU this season.

Last year's punter, Sam Loy, transferred to Colorado, leaving Vanderbilt without a punter in spring. That won't be the case this fall, with Columbia's Parker Thome coming to campus.

Thome had one season as Columbia's punter, and it was a good one. He earned first team All-Ivy League honors after averaging 42.9 yards on 50 punts. Thome had only five touchbacks, pinned opponents inside the 20 on 23 occasions, and opponents had just 88 yards of returns all season.

Thome, who was also Columbia's holder, will have a large impact from start to finish at Vanderbilt.

Thome isn't the only Ivy League graduate transfer who'll have an impact at VU this fall.

Louis Vecchio, a 6-5, 255-pound defensive end who hails from Orange, Calif.,, is also transferring to VU. Vecchio was a two-time, first-team All-Ivy pick after registering 10.5 and 8.5 stops for loss, respectively, in 2016 and '17, with sack totals of 5.5 and 3.

Last year, Vecchio had 27 solo tackles and nine assists in 10 games. He added four pass break-ups and five quarterback hurries. In 2016, Vecchio forced a pair of fumbles, had an interception (which he returned for a 40-yard touchdown), broke up three passes and had 35 total stops.

It remains to be seen whether Vecchio can unseat either Dare Odeyingbo or Dayo Odeyingbo and start at defensive end. But it's an excellent bet that he's going to get a good bit of playing time, even if that means coming off the bench.

Rutger Reitmaier is something Vanderbilt doesn't often get: a four-star-rated defensive lineman. Reitmaier didn't pick Vanderbilt out of high school--his original destination was Oregon--but after a few months in Eugene, he decided to transfer to his new destination, about three miles from where he went to high school.

So now, the Commodores get the best of both worlds: a highly-talented transfer who's a little older, wiser, and stronger, and, Reitmaier didn't lose a year of eligibility. Actually, it's better than that, because Reitmaier enrolled early at Oregon, meaning he's now gone through spring practices both there and at VU.

The buzz we've heard suggests that he'll be a major factor for Vanderbilt by the time he's done; the question is, how big of an impact will he make this fall? Reitmaier was consistently a second-team defensive tackle throughout spring practice, and at a minimum should see plenty of reps as a backup.

Safety is a major position of need, and fortunately, the Commodores recruited a four-star player in Chattanooga's Brendon Harris, a former Rivals250 recruit who starred two hours away at The Baylor School.

The former Tennessee commitment was a semifinalist for Tennessee Mr. Football, capping a stellar career at Baylor. Harris even carried 22 times for 118 yards and a pair of scores in knocking Ensworth out of the 2017 TSSAA State Playoffs.

The Commodores are thin at safety, and Harris is a great bet to get backup reps, at a minimum. Sophomore Zaire Jones, the presumed starter at strong safety, didn't have an outstanding spring, perhaps cracking the door for Harris to find a starting job.

Orji, a 5.9-rated four-star who was among Rivals' top 100 players in the class until he committed to VU, is one of the highest-rated recruits to come to Vanderbilt in decades. Orji played at a high level at one of the highest levels of high school football in America, starring at linebacker for Rockwall (Texas) High.

Orji combines speed and explosiveness with good-enough size--Vanderbilt's official roster lists him at 6-foot-2, 228 pounds--and having see him this summer, there's not a bit of fluff in those numbers.

There's a tremendous chance Orji will be a factor as a freshman, but how big a factor? The two reasons Orji isn't higher on this list are the fact that fall camp will be the first time he's played with the team, and, VU has a number of bodies at inside linebacker, too.

The Commodores begin camp with converted safety Andrew Rector as the starter, but redshirt freshman Colin Anderson, another highly-regarded prospect out of high school, emerged towards the end of spring to perhaps be the man to beat there. Brayden DeVault Smith and Feleti Afemui also saw a decent amount of time in the spring as well.

So, the question becomes how Vanderbilt sorts through the mass of young bodies there, if Rector doesn't retain his job, which of the youngsters proves the most ready.

In other words, can Orji learn the system quickly dominate the way he did in high school? If Orji gets the mental part down quickly, putting him No. 5 on this list could be laughable, as he's perhaps as gifted a football player as the 'Dores have on their roster.

Colin Anderson only made one ballot--mine, as I had him tied with Orji for the fifth spot, but that may well be a mistake on our part for reasons outlined above. Anderson was a heavily-recruited Alabama prep star, a rangy 6-foot-2 linebacker who's now up to 225. It would be a surprise not to see him get meaningful playing time.

There are a lot of names worth discussing from there, it's just hard to know who fits until we see them in camp.

We neglected to mention Dimitri Moore at inside linebacker, but that was because Moore missed all of spring due to injury. Injury is the cloud hanging over the 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt freshman, because it's been clear since Moore reported to campus in January 2017 that the coaching staff believes he can play. Health has been a persistent issue, and between that and the aforementioned number of bodies, it's just hard to know where things are heading here.

VU needs major help all over its defensive backfield, which means that any or all of true freshmen Dashaun Jerkins, Max Worship or Tre Douglas could play quickly. And, don't forget graduate transfer Alim Muhammad (Colgate), who could also carve out a role.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Stone Edwards ended spring practice as a backup to Dayo Odeyingbo. We'll see if his potential playing time is, or isn't, snuffed out by Vecchio's addition.