Where Vanderbilt Football Stands in the 2027 Recruitment Rankings – Sports Illustrated

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Vanderbilt football is looking to prove that the past two seasons were not a fluke and that it really is here to stay in the conversation of relevancy in the SEC and college football as whole.
The Commodores are coming off back-to-back seasons in which they combined for a 17-9 record and its best season in program history in 2025, finishing with a 10-3 record and an appearance in last season’s ReliaQuest Bowl.
But in a new era where there is no Diego Pavia running the offense, Vanderbilt is trying to prove to the world that the program is more than just a couple of great players. One way to go about proving the doubters wrong is to recruit well.
Vanderbilt has done that thus far in its 2027 football class with four four-stars and 10 three-stars as of the night of June 22. But where does the Commodores’ class rank in the landscape of the SEC and in the country?
According to Rivals’ rankings, Vanderbilt is ranked as the No. 12 2027 class in the SEC, but the No. 31 overall class in the country. The fact that the Commodores are in the top 35 according to Rivals, but still far down in how they compare to their conference foes goes to show how deep the SEC truly is.
Per 247Sports’ rankings, Vanderbilt is rated a little differently. The site has Vanderbilt as the No. 13 class in the SEC and the No. 44 class in college football for 2027.
Of course, these rankings are subject to change and likely will as classes for each school continue to build for 2027. Another thing to remember is that part of a class’ ranking is due to the amount of players committed rather than ratings. For example, Kentucky’s 2027 class is ranked No. 8 in the SEC right now despite having no five-stars and just two four-stars. The Wildcats have 24 commits right now. Oklahoma is the only team in the SEC with more players committed for next year’s class.
Just because Vanderbilt is toward the bottom of the SEC in recruiting rankings does not mean it has not added talent. Vanderbilt has four four-starts in its 2027 class so far. The Commodores picked up recruitments from four-stars safety Omarii Sanders, offensive lineman Jasper Ngokwere, cornerback Matt Williams and tight end Grant Haviland, per Rivals. Vanderbilt EDGE rusher commit Adekunbi Adetayo’s rating seems to be floating right on the border of a four-star and three-star in the latest rankings.
Sanders the highest-rated recruit in Vanderbilt’s 2027 class so far. In fact, he is the second-highest rated recruit Vanderbilt football has ever gotten, right behind five-star quarterback Jared Curtis.
Vanderbilt has so far acquired talent that could help continue the push the program has made into the future and it will look to add more blue chip guys before the 2027 class is finalized. For now, though, the Commodores will focus on putting their class together and try to get their best class they can.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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