Vanderbilt Football Top 20 Player Rankings: No. 19 – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt football is in a new era under head coach Clark Lea as it moves forward after a program-best 10-3 season, but does so while replacing star quarterback Diego Pavia and star tight end Eli Stowers.
Lea and company believe that the program can move forward as winners, though, and the amount of experience they bring back is at the forefront of the reasons why. 
Lea has the 34th most experienced offense in the country, the No. 4 defense in the country, is No. 2 in game experience in the country and No. 12 in returning starts. 
“Just in terms of quality depth, I mean, this is probably the best team we've had,” Lea told Vandy on SI. “Obviously, we have some big gaps to fill, and some of those gaps were our production leaders from a year ago, but I like this team. 
I like where we are.” 
This Vanderbilt team doesn’t appear to have the elite names at the top of the roster that Lea’s 2025 team did, but he believes he’s got a capable group at every level. 
In Vandy on SI’s top 20 players list, all three phases will be represented, as well as every offensive and defensive position group. 
No. 19: Ja’Cory Thomas 
Thomas was a splash transfer addition for this Vanderbilt program after a season in which he went for 41 catches for 719 yards and five touchdowns during the 2025 season at Old Dominion. He’s the rare highly-touted receiver recruit that this program has been able to land. 
Now, he needs to deliver. 
Thomas had an up and down spring as he worked to learn Tim Beck’s offense and his role in it, but he had a solid Spring Game. Perhaps he can build off of it. 
“I'm kind of on the big side for a receiver,” Thomas said after Vanderbilt’s spring game. “So a lot of people don't think I'm a great route runner, but I think I'm a true route runner. I can see my hips getting out of brakes. I mean, I get physical and I can be finesse too.”
Why No. 19? 
If Vanderbilt’s offense is going to be anywhere near as dynamic as it was a season ago, Thomas has to be better than he was in the spring. 
The list would feel incomplete without Thomas as he’s Vanderbilt’s second most talented receiver, but he has an important camp ahead of him. 
“We're just working on the things that I feel like I need to get better at,” Thomas said, “and it’s just really cleaning up everything, like, breaks, just working on my hands, just being physical, all those things.”
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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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