How many SEC caliber players does Vandy have? Glad you asked

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Coach Franklin needing to find some SEC-caliber talent. Which begs the question, what exactly is SEC-caliber talent?

Here’s a pretty logical answer: Talent that was sought by other SEC teams.

So how many players on Vanderbilt’s 2011 roster had scholarship offers to other SEC schools. If verbal commitments Mitchell Hester, Derrick King and James Lewis all sign with the Commodores, then 21 out of Vandy’s 85 scholarship athletes turned down a chance to play at other SEC schools.

Let’s break it down in levels:

LEVEL 1: Players whose best SEC offer was from a team that has won the national championship in the past five seasons:
• Tristan Strong, LB, Auburn (2008)
• Thad McHaney, DE, Auburn (2009)
• Wes Johnson, OL, Auburn (2009)
• Derrick King, ATH, Auburn (2011)

LEVEL 2: Players whose best SEC offer was from a team that averaged a Top 10 recruiting finish:
• Kyle Woestmann, DE, Georgia (2010)

LEVEL 3: Players whose best SEC offer was from a team that in the past five years has averaged a Top 25 finish in recruiting:
• Warren Norman, RB, Tennessee (2009)
• Vince Taylor, DL, Tennessee (2010)
• Thomas Ryan, DL, Tennessee (2010)
• Taylor Loftley, DL, South Carolina (2008)
• James Kittredge, DL, South Carolina (2010)
• Logan Stewart, OL, South Carolina (2010)
• Kenny Ladler, S, South Carolina (2010)
• Mason Johnston, TE, Arkansas (2009)
• Jared Morse, DL, Arkansas (2010)
• Mitchell Hester, RB, Arkansas (2011)
• Eddie Foster, DB, Ole Miss (2009)
• Jonathan Krause, WR, Ole Miss (2010)

LEVEL 4: Players whose best SEC offer was from a team with recruiting consistently in the bottom quarter of the conference:
• Sean Richardson, S, Miss State (2008)
• Kyle Fischer, OL, Kentucky (2007)
• DeAndre Jones, LB, Kentucky (2008)
• James Lewis, OL, Kentucky (2011)

Look how these 21 Vandy players with SEC offers break down according to class:
• 2 seniors
• 5 juniors
• 8 sophomores
• 6 freshmen (including redshirts)

ALL-SEC TEAMS
To this list of SEC caliber players you can definitely add those players who’ve been named to All-SEC teams:
• Chris Marve, LB (2007)
• Brandon Barden, TE (2007)
• Casey Hayward, DB (2008)