Carson Lawrence Is Embracing Position Change For Vanderbilt Football – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—The tape stood out to Carson Lawrence immediately, so did the types of players within it. As Vanderbilt’s staff tried to sell Lawrence on what he could do in its defense, it showed him CJ Taylor, Randon Fontenette and Kyle Hamilton. 
Now, as Lawrence stands at the edge of the practice field wearing No. 3 and addressing a large group of media, he’s got something in common with those three former stars that played in Clark Lea defenses. All of those three players made consistent impacts on games from the STAR position and Lawrence believes that he can do the same. 
Lawrence is a former 4-star prospect that joined Vanderbilt in the fall as a high safety a year ago, but he decided to move to STAR through a number of conversations with Vanderbilt’s defensive staff. Lawrence says it was a mutual decision and backs that up as he speaks about what he can do at his new position. 
“I'm excited to just showcase my talent and just be a playmaker,” Lawrence said Tuesday morning. “It's just a decision that the coaches and myself made, something that fits my skill set. It’s something I've just kind of been in the back of my mind for a while, but I think it was a collective decision between me and the coaches. I'm happy about it.” 
Lawrence played sparingly a season ago and recorded just eight tackles when he was on the field. The path to consistent playing time never existed for Lawrence despite his recruiting ranking. Now, though, he’s got a path. 
Vanderbilt’s STAR room isn’t as crowded as it once was and its biggest name these days is Lawrence. The intention behind Lawrence’s move clearly aligned with the idea that he’d see the field more. Vanderbilt’s coaching staff believes that he’ll be more effective when he’s on the field, too. 
“I think with Carson, he is a guy that wants to be involved and in the mix and what's fun about STAR is you're on the field perimeter,” Vanderbilt STAR’s coach Arion Shinaver said. “The difference between being at 12 yards and 5 yards is a lot in terms of how much of the action you're actually going to be involved in. And so Kyle Hamilton, Randon Fontenette, CJ Taylor, you can think of the plays that they've made. Like, if you know those guys, you can think of the plays they've made in part because of the position that they played, they're close to the ball.” 
Lawrence says that in addition to being at a new position, he’s also bigger, faster and stronger than he was when Vanderbilt took the field in Tampa for the ReliaQuest Bowl. He also believes that he has a deeper knowledge of the game than he did a season ago. The position that Lawrence is in these days, he says, is a similar one that Fontenette was in when he arrived at Vanderbilt before the 2024 season. 
At the very least, they’ve got the fact that they’re both entering their sophomore seasons while moving from high safety to STAR. Fontenette played more as a freshman at TCU than Lawrence did as a freshman at Vanderbilt, but Lawrence was a more highly-touted recruit when he arrived as a college freshman. He’s demonstrated that he has the ability to have a career with similar success levels as Fontenette’s.
Carson's been great, man,” Vanderbilt star Jailen Ruth said. “He’s great to learn with, like, we're both getting better every single day, and he teaches me things.”
Fontenette’s adjustment to playing STAR was nearly seamless and included him being involved in seemingly every play while on the field. Lawrence admits that it’s been an adjustment to adapt to the speed of the game while playing five yards off the line, but he says definitively that he’s able to keep up physically. 
The adjustment may result in a few plays where Lawrence is caught in the wrong spot, but it will likely result in him making a number of them that make Shinaver remember why he pushed for him to play STAR in the first place.
“I feel like it's a great opportunity,” Lawrence said. “I'm excited for the opportunity I’ve gotten thus far.”
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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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