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If there is a silver lining to Vanderbilt’s 4-8 season, it’s that a young roster with only eight scholarship seniors was able to gain valuable experience.
Fifteen starters from the season finale are expected back next season, and two other players with starting experience (Andrew Jelks and Nigel Bowden) will likely rejoin the starting lineup as well.
As encouraging as that may be for coach Derek Mason and his staff, there are still meangingful losses from this year’s roster that must be addressed before the 2016 campaign. Here are the five Commodores that will be the most difficult to replace for next season:
5. LB Darreon Herring — Herring ranked second on the team with 64 tackles while adding 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He was a five-time captain in 2015 — the team chooses weekly captains, rather than preseason ones — and made 34 career starts, recording 226 tackles during his time in Nashville.
4. TE Steven Scheu — A fixture at tight end for the Commodores, Scheu was third on the team with 26 receptions for 231 yards and a touchdown. He made 36 starts in his career and ended up with 82 catches for 924 yards and seven TDs. Scheu also excels in the classroom, graduating in December with a degree in Medicine, Health and Society.
3. S Andrew Williamson — A San Antonio native, Williamson posted 41 tackles and a sack from his safety spot. He had 135 tackles and two interceptions in his career, and will also be joining Scheu in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 23.
2. C Spencer Pulley — The veteran center from Memphis made 41 career starts, and was a captain for seven of the team’s 12 games this season. He was also the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Missouri game, grading out at 99 percent with four pancake blocks.
1. LB Stephen Weatherly — Weatherly was sixth on the team with 46 tackles, but second in both tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (3.5). Despite not getting a first- or second-round grade from the NFL, he decided to declare for the draft. Bowden’s return from a concussion will help soften the blow, but it would been nice to have Weatherly, Bowden and the talented Zach Cunningham in the linebacker rotation together.
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
