Vanderbilt Football 2026 Depth Chart Projection: Safeties – Sports Illustrated

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One of the most interesting parts and one of the parts to Vanderbilt football’s 2026 season will be the performance of the secondary.
Even if the Commodores’ offense performs well, the secondary is going to need to perform well to prevent opposing offenses from scoring. Luckily for Vanderbilt, the Commodores feel that they have playmakers on the back end of their defense that can take the ball away and shift the momentum of a game.
Vanderbilt also has some seasoned pieces to their secondary, including in its safety room. The Commodores have experienced players they feel like will only get better this fall.
Here is Vandy On SI’s projected depth chart for the safety room for Vanderbilt.
Starters: CJ Heard and Ricardo Jones
Next Up: Dontae Carter
Others to Watch: Davin Chandler and Jalen Gilbert
The safety room lost one of its starters last season with Marlen Sewell graduating, but retained a starter in CJ Heard, who transferred from FAU to Vanderbilt ahead of the 2025 season.
One of the best offseason additions Vanderbilt made may very well reside in the safety room. The Commodores brought in safety transfer Ricardo Jones from Clemson. Jones led the ACC last season in interceptions and is looking to see if he can do that again in the SEC.
Overall, the safeties have gotten older and more experienced. Heard,Jones and Dontae are all entering their junior seasons and are looking to make an impact. Davin Chandler has a season under his belt, too. 
While there are other position rooms on the roster that are older and possess more experience, Vanderbilt’s safety room as a whole got older and more experienced.
“They’re experienced. They know what it takes to win. The older guys did a great job of bringing the young guys along,” Vanderbilt safeties coach Melvin Rice said of his position room in the spring.
CJ Heard gets the top spot in Vandy On SI’s projection due to his experience being in the Vanderbilt system for a season. Not only that, but Heard also was an impact player that started all 13 games for the Commodores in 2025 and produced when he was on the field.
Last season, Heard tied linebacker Bryan Longwell for the most tackles on the team with 71 tackles. Heard now steps into more of a leadership role this season as a junior. He embraces the opportunity at hand this fall to lead his teammates. 
“Last year I was a guy that was figuring it out. I was figuring out Vandy and figuring out everything. But this year it’s not just leading by example, but being vocal about it. I’m trying to be consistent everyday with how I work, prepare and recover,” Heard told Vandy On SI. “I always used to be the guy who just likes to show it, but now I’m bringing people along and I’m being vocal about it.”
Heard wants to also be a leader in the production he puts up this season. Last season, Heard had an interception, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Going into this season, Heard is now worried about whether he is considered for awards. What he is concerned with, however, is making more plays than he did last year.
The one thing he wants to be better at the most? Taking the ball away.
“I'm gonna be a guy that creates turnovers, if that's interceptions, forced fumbles, I'm making a lot of plays on the ball. I'm gonna be around the ball a lot. I’m going to be one of the best faces in the SEC on defense not only because I play, but because of my leadership with the way I’m going to bring the team together and the defense together,” Heard said.
Jones gets the second starting spot in the projected depth chart. Though it is Jones’ first season with Vanderbilt, his production from his sophomore season at Clemson gives the Commodores plenty of reason to put him in a starting role.
Last season at Clemson, Jones had six interceptions to go with his 25 tackles and three passes defended. One of his six interceptions was a pick six. Six interceptions is a lot of production to follow up on going into the next season, especially after transferring to a tougher conference, too.
Expecting six or more interceptions from Jones or any player would be on the unrealistic side, but the capability for Jones is certainly there and the coaching staff sees it as well.
“From the moment he stepped onto the field, he just brought a grit to the defense. Just a guy that can rally up the group in the safeties room. Positionally, just ball skills like field awareness, route awareness and where the quarterback is going with the football,” Rice said of Jones in the spring. “That’ll be a big piece to us this year is having somebody that can attack the ball.”
If Jones is even close to the production on defense he had last season, Vanderbilt would be more than happy with that. It will also show bringing him in from the portal paid off well.
Dontae Carter is a player that can take a jump in his third season with Vanderbilt. Carter did not get an interception last season, but he did come away with 33 tackles and appeared in all 13 games for the Commodores.
Carter made a jump from his freshman to sophomore season and likely will do the same this fall. However, the production he has had is not enough yet to be in a starting role, which is why Carter is listed as one of the guys next in line.
Carter does show the ability to make an impact with his tackling skills. If that continues along with his production, Vanderbilt has a solid option it can bring in for Heard or Jones if ever needed.
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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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