How Vanderbilt’s Jayvontay Conner Has Gotten More Consistent – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE – If there is one thing that Vanderbilt football tight end transfer Jayvontay Conner does not lack, it is confidence and his skillset and his ability to make an impact.
During spring ball between March and April, Conner got the attention of Vanderbilt fans when he compared his game to Waffle House. Just like the restaurant is open 24/7, Conner believes he is when he steps onto the football field.
There is one aspect that Vanderbilt tight ends coach Brendan Flaherty wanted to see Conner get better at in his game when he first got to Vanderbilt, though: his consistency. Being consistent in everything from his playmaking ability to his lifestyle.
Over the summer, Flaherty told Vandy On SI that the need for consistency he wanted to see from Conner was due to him having mental errors in spring practice that ranged from drops to missed assignments. Flaherty said that there would usually be one or two errors Conner would make while also showing moments where his potential flashed.
Now, Flaherty and Conner both believe that he has improved in his consistency since spring practice began in mid-March, both in his gameplay and in his diet.
“He’s improved his lifestyle. And I know right now he's working with a personal chef to make sure he's getting his body where it needs to be. By the time we finished spring, he was either high 220s or low 230s and today he was pushing 240,” Flaherty told Vandy On SI earlier this summer. “I think that's showing up, and that's just going to help him actually be able to play an entire SEC season, just building up his body that way.”
With his body now changed for the better, Conner is in the top two or three best-conditioned players on the Vanderbilt football roster, according to Flaherty.
He has also gotten more consistent with his playmaking as well. Flaherty told Vandy On SI in the summer that he can only remember one time where Conner dropped a ball since the end of spring practice.
Through six days of fall camp, that sentiment has proven itself to show as well.
Conner did not start playing football until his junior year of high school. As a player that made the transition from wide receiver to tight end, by the end of his high school days, he was still learning the position and the game of football and has continued to learn since he began his collegiate career at Ole Miss in 2023.
Since coming to Vanderbilt, the learning still goes on. Since arriving in Nashville, Conner has spent plenty of time leaning into the other guys in his position room and he feels like it has paid off.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ll say just getting more consistent in the playbook. That’s definitely something that has helped. Guys like Cole Spence, Gabe Fischer, all those guys, they’ve been helping me a lot with the playbook and making sure I’m not confused when I go out there,” Conner said.
Conner now seems to have both the body type and the abilities to play in the SEC. In the Vanderbilt offense, there is no shortage of opportunities for tight ends to play their role. With the improvement in consistency that Conner has made, it looks like he is ready for that.
“We’re putting a lot on his plate, but he’s going to be physical enough to help us in the run game, but big and ready enough. At ECU, he was a primary pass option for them, so that’s going to help us, too,” Flaherty said Monday after Vanderbilt’s fifth day of fall camp.
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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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