For Vandy redshirt juniors, if you play, you stay

Going into senior day, it's always interesting to see which players with eligibility remaining are being honored.

Vandy has 15 players who are academic seniors but have at least one year of eligibility remaining. Of those, eight are returning:

• Brandon Barden, TE: 36 games, 29 starts
• Kyle Fischer, OG: 36 games, 24 starts
• Udom Umoh, WR: 36 games, 21 starts
• Chris Marve, LB: 35 games, 35 starts
• Tim Fugger, DE: 30 games, 17 starts
• Jamie Graham, DB: 27 games, 15 starts
• Larry Smith, QB: 22 games, 21 starts
• Austin Monahan, TE: 20 games, 7 starts

These guys have all started at least two-thirds of the games, after their redshirt year, in which they've been healthy enough to play. The guys with the fewest starts, Jamie Graham and Austin Monahan, have battled injuries throughout their careers. All of these guys fit into our plans for 2011, either as starters or major role players.

Here are the guys who are leaving a year of eligibility on the table:
• Ryan van Rensburg, FB/TE: 30 games
• David Giller, SN: 30 games
• Tray Herndon, WR: 15 games, 1 start
• Reece Lovell, RB: 11 games
• Duane Vaughn, DB: 1 game
• Charlie Byrge, WR: No games
• Elvio Tropeano, S: No games

Ryan Van Rensburg and Tray Herndon are the only scholarship players in the bunch. RVR never fit into the Commodores backfield but became a valuable special teams performer and backup tight end. Herndon is the only one of these guys to start a game. Neither of them played more than Giller, a walk-on who became a fixture at long snapper.

Here are the guys with no remaining eligibility who are being honored on senior day:

Redshirt Seniors:
• Kennard Reeves, RB: 45 games, 3 starts
• Nate Campbell, LB: 39 games, 7 starts
• Adam Smotherman, DT: 37 games, 23 starts
• Teriall Brannon, DE: 34 games, 2 starts
• Turner Wimberly, WR: 32 games, 4 starts
• Joey Bailey, OL: 29 games, 11 starts
• Jared Funk, QB: 17 games, no starts
• Chris Aaron, OL: 11 games, no starts

True Seniors:
• John Stokes, LB: 47 games, 23 starts
• Theron Kadri, DE: 44 games, 11 starts


While we're on the subject of senior day, here are some scholarship players who might leave a year of eligibility on the table this time next year:
• Taylor Loftley, DT: 7 games, no starts
• Al Owens, S: 13 games, no starts
• Akeem Dunham, WR: 15 games, no starts
• Micah Powell, LB: 17 games, no starts
• Josh Jelesky, DT: 22 games, no starts

They've all gotten minimal playing time this season, though some of them play in every game on special teams, and will be getting major competition from redshirt freshmen next year.