Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Vanderbilt Football: 3 Impactful Transfers for the Commodores

The Commodores will be talented and experienced on defense in 2024.

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Nov 18
Nov 18

By Tony Thomas

The Vanderbilt Commodores are coming off a 2-10 season in 2023, with zero wins in SEC play. The Commodores started last season 2-0, then lost 10 straight games. As a result, Vanderbilt lost a ton of talent to the transfer portal, forcing Head Coach Clark Lea to make wholesale changes.

Lea added new coaches to his staff, implemented a new strength and conditioning program to become a more physical football team, and found some talent in the transfer portal to ease the pain of attrition, including three transfers that will be sure to make an impact for the Commodores in 2024.

QB Diego Pavia

Previous School: New Mexico State Aggies

6’0”, 200 lbs.

As the 2023 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, Diego Pavia led the Aggies to a 10-win season and a second consecutive bowl appearance, a feat that had not been accomplished in over 60 years. Pavia accounted for 3,896 total yards and 33 total touchdowns, which was good enough for 12th nationally and ranked ahead of such players as Cam Ward and Caleb Williams.

Pavia’s season high in total offense came in a 27-13 win over Sam Houston in which Pavia totaled 401 yards and three touchdowns. Against Auburn, Pavia threw three TD passes in a 31-10 victory. Pavia threw multiple TD passes in 10 of 15 games last season.

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In Nashville, Pavia reunites with Tim Beck, his former offensive coordinator at New Mexico State and now the new OC at Vanderbilt. That bodes well for the Commodores and Pavia in that he is well-versed in the scheme that Beck likes to run.

CB Marlon Jones, Jr.

Previous School: Eastern Washington Eagles

6’1’, 188 lbs.

A 1st Team All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2023, Marlon Jones, Jr. picked off three passes and returned two of them for touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. In addition, Jones recorded 35 tackles, broke up seven passes, and made four tackles for loss. 

In his collegiate career, one that consists of 40 games played, Jones has 158 tackles and nine INTs and will bring talent and experience to the Commodores defensive secondary.

DE Zaylin Wood

Previous School: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

6’2”, 273 lbs.

Zaylin Wood moves an hour down the highway to Nashville and brings experience and a physicality to the Commodores that is sorely needed (Wood is a former Georgia State Powerlifting Champion). Wood was a 3-year starter for the Blue Raiders and has 49 games of collegiate experience under his belt to help him as he navigates a huge step up in competition in the SEC.

For his career, Wood has 94 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, ten sacks, five pass breakups, and two INTs. One of those INTs occurred against the Miami Hurricanes in 2022 and was returned for a touchdown, in addition to two tackles and two sacks in the game, in a 45-31 upset victory.

The Commodores lost a ton of talent and experience on the offensive side of the ball, including two quarterbacks, three wide receivers, and two offensive line starters. Vanderbilt does return their leading rusher Sedrick Alexander.

It appears that the defense will be the strength of this team, with several key defenders returning this season, including LB/S CJ Taylor (55 tackles), EDGE Aeneas DiCosmo (33 tackles), and LB Langston Patterson (74 tackles, led the team), along other key contributors at linebacker and the defensive secondary.

If Coach Beck can replicate the offensive success with the Commodores that he achieved with New Mexico State over the past two seasons (presumably with Pavia’s help), and if younger offensive players can step up and contribute, Vanderbilt could have a breakout season and drop an anchor on the SEC in 2024.

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