Brady Brown appears to have gained a year of eligibility

It appears that wide Brady Brown is being granted a medical redshirt. At least, he’s being listed on the updated roster as a redshirt freshman after playing in four games last season before sustaining a lower leg injury.

This is great news: Vandy has five talented receivers (Brown and true freshmen Chris Boyd, Jonathan Krause, Jordan Matthews and Trent Pruitt) who’ll be together for the next four seasons.

Brady Brown listed on depth chart at wide receiver

Here's a prediction: Brady Brown will be one of our best receivers by the end of the season.

No, Brown hasn't caught a pass yet, and he's only played in three games.

But the true freshman has moved onto the depth chart, behind Alex Washington and ahead of Justin Green. Green has gone AWOL since tipping a 46-yard touchdown to himself against Western Carolina — his only catch.

And another receiver who looks good in the airport, redshirt freshman Akeem Dunham, has only played in two games and has dropped off the depth chart. Everybody's been saying Dunham has a lot of potential. Maybe Bear Bryant was right: Potential means you don't have any.

Anyway, back to young Master Brown. Expect Larry to keep slinging it against Army in an attempt to find his rhythm, and expect Brady Brown to catch — yes, actually grab a ball with his hands and hold onto it for an official reception — a pass and then catch another one against the Black Knights.

Vanderbilt starting quarterback Larry Smith, I mean 'L-Train,' says true freshmen receivers looking good

Got a new Ask-a-Dore segment on the athletic department site and, lo and behold, it features Larry Smith, but the interview was conducted before the announcement that he would be the starting quarterback.

I'll run down the highlights for you, but must first say two things:

1) Larry had an extremely hard act to follow in Jamie Graham, who's a hilarious guy and good in front of a mike.

2) Larry apparently graduated from the Nuke LaLoosh school of interviewing. For example, he likes to answer questions with a friendly "most definitely," and he answers questions about the preseason with a friendly "we're taking it practice by practice," and questions about the season with a friendly "we're taking it game by game."

Fortunately for you, I'm a patient listener and have listened to the 8-minute interview and gleaned a few interesting facts for you:

• True freshmen receivers Brady Brown and Collin Ashley have been impressive in spring practice: When asked about the receiving corps, Larry said, "We young," and then, unprompted, he mentioned two receivers, Brown and Ashley, saying they were both "stepping up good." That's good to hear.

• Larry was an Air Force brat: Larry's dad was stationed in California, then North Carolina, then Alabama. "We're kind of fortunate because we only lived in three places," he said.

• Why Larry wears the number 10: Because as a boy he was a fan of Kordell Stewart and Chipper Jones.

• High school nickname: L-Train, but people haven't called him that in Nashville...yet. The above picture shows Larry in full L-Train mode at Prattville High School.

• His roommate since he got to Vanderbilt: Jermaine Doster. "We're real neat," he says. Now receiver Justin Green has joined them. Justin may refuse to make up his bed until Larry starts throwing him the ball.

• Something we may not know about Broderick Stewart: His nickname is High Definition.

• On the importance of swag: "You got to have swag on the field. Without swag you have low confidence." And does Alex Washington really have the most swag on the team? "Alex thinks he has the most swag, but I give it to him."

Yes, Vanderbilt has some wide receivers not named Terence Jeffers-Harris

Dang, so we spent all spring and summer talking about how Terence Jeffers-Harris would transform the Vanderbilt offense. And now he's gone. So let's talk about who we do have at wide receiver.

PROJECTED STARTERS
These guys have zero starts in a total of 44 games, most playing special teams, and 16 career catches for 159 yards and no touchdowns. Oh, and two knee surgeries.
• John Cole (5-11, 170): Redshirt freshman injured in season opener and redshirted; no career catches; fast, sure-handed and runs crisp routes; much stronger after returning from knee surgery.
• Alex Washington (5-10, 188): Redshirt senior struggled to return from knee injury last season, looked explosive in spring; no career starts; 13 career catches for 130 yards; longest catch of career was 31 yards.
• Udom Umoh (6-0, 175): Redshirt sophomore played in every game but registered first catch in bowl, finishing with three for 29 yards; good speed and hands.

PROJECTED TOP BACKUPS:
Can you say project? Herndon has an impressive Big Ten resumé and could easily crack the starting lineup, but Dunham's still transitioning from hardwood to gridiron, Green is getting a second chance at receiver, and walk-on Reinert just wants to make a few plays and pump up the crowd. We'll see...
• Tray Herndon (5-10, 180): Sophomore started seven games as a true freshman at Minnesota, catching 22 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown. Has excellent speed and hands.
• Akeem Dunham (6-3, 198): Redshirt freshman spent fall and spring getting stronger and learning the game after focusing on basketball in high school; tall, fast, sure-handed athlete.
• Justin Green (6-6, 232): Big and athletic redshirt junior, but moved to wide receiver after failing to show physical skills and aggressiveness to play tight end; has played in 18 career games, with 4 catches for 38 yards, but none last season.
• Chris Reinert (5-9, 172): Senior walk-on who's played in 13 career games, grabbing two catches for 20 yards; best known for pumping up the crowd in the South Carolina game while being wheeled off the field with a broken leg

OTHER BACKUPS:
These guys are regarded as smart and team-oriented, which means they may see some action on special teams.
• Turner Wimberly (6-1, 192): Redshirt junior listed as second team, but has bounced around from quarterback to defensive back; solid blocker and improved route runner; no career catches; best bet to play on special teams
• Rich Tompkins (5-11, 185): Sophomore walk-on played in two games on special teams before injury; listed as second-team cornerback this preseason before being moved to offense

THE TRUE FRESHMEN:
Since signing day in February, fans have counted on Brady Brown to play right away. But Ashley went unsigned and was picked up by the Commodores after Justin Wheeler went down in spring practice.
• Brady Brown (6-4, 200): Big kid from Texas with great hands and decent speed; projected as a possession receiver and has a good shot to play right away.
• Collin Ashley (5-11, 170): Another Texas kid, but with almost identical size, weight and speed as John Cole; may get lost among all the other short little route runners at the top of the depth chart

GUYS AT OTHER OFFENSIVE POSITIONS WHO'LL CATCH PASSES:
• Brandon Barden (6-5, 245): All-Freshman SEC tight end last season who pulled down 28 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns, including game-changers against South Carolina and Auburn; a big, big talent.
• Austin Monahan (6-7, 255): Redshirt sophomore tight end who started four games last season before season-ending injury; a terrific accompaniment to Barden
• Jared Hawkins (5-10, 203): Redshirt senior started 10 games last year at tailback and has hauled in 23 passes in his career for 194 yards and a score.
• Gaston Miller (5-7, 170): Redshirt junior return specialist has three career receptions for 31 yards.
• Kennard Reeves (6-0, 204): Redshirt junior had two receptions last year, including a 15-yarder against Florida.
• Zac Stacy (5-10, 194): True freshman is already turning heads as a ballcarrier, and he can catch out of the backfield, too.
• Warren Norman (5-10, 188): True freshman is perhaps the most polished receiver of the three frosh running backs, and could even get a look at receiver if things get desperate.

DEFENSIVE GUYS WHO MAY PULL A D.J.:
• Jamie Graham (6-0, 196): Sure, he's now a cornerback, but who can forget his three touchdowns in the corner of the end zone against Georgia and Florida? Expect him to see some time on offense a la D.J. Last season, he started nine games, grabbing 17 passes for 125 yards and the aforementioned three touchdowns.
• Myron Lewis (6-2, 205): The senior All-American candidate is a cornerback, but like D.J. was a wide receiver in high school and he sure looked like a receiver at the end of the Auburn and Boston College games, didn't he?

Vanderbilt adds to 2009 football recruiting class — but where will Collin Ashley play?

Thanks to the fellows at Vanderbilt Sports Line for keeping such a close eye on recruiting. While monitoring 2010 recruiting — with one signee so far, DE Thomas Ryan of Florida — Douglas James discovered that Vandy's actually added to its 2009 class.

According to both rivals.com and espn.com, athlete Collin Ashley of Flower Mound, Texas, signed a letter of intent on Monday to play with Vanderbilt starting this fall. (Or get red-shirted, but more on that later.)

Ashley bears a striking resemblance to 2008 signee John Cole:

• Both are listed around 6-0, 170 pounds.
• Both run 4.4 forties.
• Both had offers from academic schools (Cole at Stanford, Ashley at Wake Forest).
• Both are three-star guys.
• Both had similar ratings from ESPN and rivals.com (Cole 5.5 Rivals and 74 ESPN, Ashley 5.6 Rivals and 73 ESPN).
• Both rang up big numbers playing in pass-happy offensive schemes, though Cole is without question the more polished receiver of the two, and Ashley has the ability to switch over to defense.

Though Ashley is listed by ESPN as a defensive back and Rivals as an athlete, the speculation seems to be that Vanderbilt wants him to play receiver. The university has not issued an official release on the signing. VSL reasons that Vandy already has enough DBs and needs receivers.

I agree that Ashley will probably wind up on offense, but not for the same reason. Defensive back still remains a huge concern for Vanderbilt. Last season, all 10 of the Commodores' top defensive backs returned, and most of them had starting experience. Still, Bobby Johnson, who'd just as soon redshirt everybody, threw Sean Richardson and Casey Hayward on the field as soon as they arrived on campus and red-shirted the two other DB recruits, Al Owens and Micah Powell, who weren't battle-ready. So he was 12-deep at DB, but he needed every one of them when players like Darlron Spead started dropping to injury, and now Richardson and Hayward are ready to step in for departing starters.

This season, however, only six of Vanderbilt's top 10 DBs return (returning starters Myron Lewis and Ryan Hamilton, starters-in-waiting Richardson and Hayward, and experienced subs Alan Strong and Joel Caldwell. That's why Bobby Johnson has made the following moves since the Music City Bowl victory:

• Listed recruit Eric Samuels, his top running back prospect, as a defensive back on signing day. When Samuels signed last summer, Johnson told Samuels he would receive consideration as a running back. Vandy was then able to sign three solid running back prospects — Wesley Tate, Zac Stacy and Warren Norman — but none of them were ranked as highly as Samuels as a running back.
• Signed another four defensive backs — Trey Wilson, Eddie Foster, Javon Marshall and Jay Fullam — to his 2009 class.
• Moved the wide receiver with the most touchdowns, Jamie Graham, to cornerback in the spring.

So Johnson took two guys with unmistakable offensive firepower, Samuels and Graham, and moved them to defensive back. That gives him eight defensive backs. Throw in Trey Wilson, the other incoming freshman DB who appears most ready to play right away, and he's got nine.

He still needs a couple more, and those are going to come from redshirts Owen and Powell and true freshmen Foster, Marshall and Fullam.

So the secondary is still shaky. Lose one of your top five or six guys early, like we did with Spead in our second game last season, and things are really shaky.

Which means if we were signing another guy like Samuels or Graham, they'd be headed straight to defense. But Ashley is not another guy like Samuels or Graham. He's got 4.4 speed, but scouting reports say he looks slower on the field. He's a good athlete and leaper, but he lets receivers get behind him and lacks the hips of an ideal DB. Also, he's slight at 6-0, 170 pounds.

Last summer, Ashley was listed as a cornerback prospect and he wanted to sign with Arkansas. He was planning to attend the Razorback football camp, but when the Razorbacks told him they weren't interested in signing him, he canceled his plans to attend. He also liked SMU, but the Mustangs had too many DBs and receivers.

According to a local newspaper, it was a mystery to people in the Flower Mound area why Ashley wasn't getting more scholarship offers from BCS schools. The paper, the Collierville Courier, said that Ashley concentrated on wide receiver his senior year after starring at cornerback his junior season. He told the paper that in addition to Wake Forest he could have received scholarship offers from Colorado, Marshall and UNLV, but was holding out for a school he wanted to attend.

He had planned to visit Vanderbilt in January but apparently never did and the Commodores, which were heading toward signing 18 players, didn't make an offer. But one of the Commodore commitments, DT Darrius McMullin, didn't qualify academically and then Justin Wheeler suffered an injury in the spring that will likely keep him off the field next season. Ashley planned to walk on at Arkansas until Vandy extended him an offer on Monday.

Vanderbilt still needs stud defensive backs who are ready to go right away. And with Justin Wheeler's injury, it also needs to add to a wide receiver pool that has one clear star in Terence Jeffers and some interesting pieces in Cole, fifth-year senior Alex Washington, transfer Tray Herndon, sophomore Udom Umoh, true freshman Brady Brown and redshirt freshman Akeem Dunham. Some of them will fall into place, some of them won't.

At least right now, Ashley fits the bill more as a pool receiver than a stud DB. And if he's not needed at receiver right away, then, as the VSL guys point out, he can take a redshirt year, gain some weight, and find his niche.