Sedrick Alexander, MK Young Taking a Step Into Leadership – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt running back MK Young ran a running back drill that had him sidestepping obstacles and juking out a coach acting as a defender in the middle of Saturday morning in Vanderbilt’s sixth spring practice.
In an offense and a team with plenty of new faces, one of the constants between 2025 and 2026 is Young and his running back tandem partner in Sedrick Alexander. The two are a year older now and are now amongst the oldest guys on Vanderbilt’s roster for the upcoming season.
What does part of being a senior on the roster entail? Bearing more of a leadership responsibility, especially amongst the offense. The Commodores will have a new starting quarterback, multiple new guys at wide receiver and multiple new faces battling for position on the offensive line.
As a result, this is the year where Young and Alexander both are to step up and be role models for the rest of their teammates.
“Oh absolutely,” Young said when asked if he feels more of a responsibility to be a leader on this season’s team. “I just feel like anytime we’re on the field we want to make everyone around us better. On and off. I just feel like whether it’s being young or old, we’ve always had that. And Seddy [Sedrick Alexander], we both do a great job.”
The two complement each other well on the field and helped Vanderbilt’s offense run like a  well-oiled machine a season ago. Alexander was the main guy in the backfield running the ball, but Young provided a pass-catching ability out of the backfield often while also showing his explosive capabilities with his speed at times as well.
Off the field, Young feels they also complement one another. As Young attests to, Alexander lets his actions speak for themselves from a leadership perspective while Young is a bit of both worlds between letting his words be backed up by his actions.
“He’s more of an action, I’m more of both words and action. We just complement each other so well,” Young said.
On the field and in practice, though, Alexander knows that his role as a leader is going to have to be heightened. From helping the younger running backs to helping the new guys on the offensive line, Alexander’s experience, knowledge and leadership will come in handy as the offense looks to build chemistry.
“My role is to teach the running backs, teach the offense and be able to counteroff what the quarterback needs for me to do when I’m in the game,” Alexander said.
Young and Alexander’s step up in leading the offense has been noticed by the coaching staff. Running backs coach Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford has always seen the duo’s ability to lead the other running backs on the roster. But now, he is seeing the two help lead other position rooms on the offense.
Additionally, while the coaching staff is pleased to see Young and Alexander embrace the leadership role, it is imperative to have those roles filled by the guys in order for the culture and the energy of the team be carried over into the 2026 season.
“They have always kind of led the younger guys within the position. But just seeing them step outside their comfort zone and really lead the offense has been really good,” Muhammad-Lankford said. “With the experience that those guys have, it’s expected for them to lead the way in terms of building our culture for this year’s team. So, we put a lot on them when it comes from a leadership standpoint and they’re doing really, really well at that.”
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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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