Vanderbilt Football Notebook: Cayden Daniels' Development, Quarterbacks, Expectations – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—The fact that Cayden Daniels was standing up there at the podium on Saturday afternoon says something. 
Daniels has been out of the spotlight since he arrived at Vanderbilt prior to the 2025 season. Now–as indicated by his time at the podium–this could be the year in which Daniels finally breaks through and becomes a consistent figure on the field for this Vanderbilt team. 
At the very least, he’s getting close to that point. 
“I’m getting a better understanding of everything, so it’s just day by day, getting better and better,” Daniels said Saturday. “I’ve gotten better at press coverage, all around, getting tighter to routes, understanding different route combinations.” 
The good news for Daniels; it’s a good time for him to be trending upward. Vanderbilt’s veteran corner core of Kolbey Taylor, Mark Davis and Marlon Jones has dissipated–Taylor was the only one in the building on Saturday, and he was in street clothes watching while preparing for the NFL Draft. That leaves Martel Hight and Jordan Matthews as starters and not a whole lot of guarantees otherwise. 
If Daniels is able to play press coverage effectively like he believes he can, Vanderbilt’s third corner battle may easily be solved. He’s not operating as if he’s got the job, though. 
“We get an equal opportunity to show what we can do,” Daniels said, “So it’s best we capitalize on what we can do, make the best of what we can do.” 
Clark Lea isn’t backing down from expectations
It shouldn’t be surprising since Lea didn’t refute Vanderbilt players when they said that they wanted to win a national championship a season ago, but he’s not backing down from any expectations. 
Lea knows the realities presented by what Vanderbilt lost a season ago, but he’s not using that as a crutch or indicating that this is any sort of rebuilding season. 
“I told the guys afterwards, we're the only ones that can put limitations on what we can accomplish,” Lea said, “And we need to take a great focus into the last week of spring here, heading into the spring game to finish out the right way and to set a course for a great summer.” 
Doesn’t sound like anything other than a College Football Playoff berth will excite Lea all that much. 
Lea’s quarterback competition update
Vandy on SI’s Graham Baakko said in Saturday’s takeaways that he believes Blaze Berlowitz and Jared Curtis–as expected–are emerging as the frontrunners in the quarterback battle. 
Lea–as expected–won’t show his hand, though. He’s still playing this politically correct.
“I think they've all had moments and so we're not gonna name a starter coming out of spring,” Lea said. “We're not even, I don't think close to that, honestly. Summer will be an opportunity, maybe to continue to kind of work on and sort the order. I think as we get to training camp, we do have to be intentional about repetitions. And so part of this is going to be a process of elimination. But it's just, there's no reason for us right now.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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