Vanderbilt football's tight end group is non-traditional. The Commodores hope that is to their advantage.
Returner Cole Spence has a long history of playing tight end at the SEC level, but the rest of the tight ends came from a variety of unique backgrounds. Jayvontay Conner started out as a wide receiver, Maurice Veney was an offensive lineman, Walter Taylor was a quarterback and Gabe Fisher − who plays both fullback and tight end − was a high school wrestler who also played both offensive and defensive line in Nashville at Montgomery Bell Academy.
That means several of these players are learning the finer points of the position. It may also give them high ceilings.
"Walt, if he continues the trend that he's on, he's improved a lot," Vanderbilt
tight ends coach Brendan Flaherty said Aug. 10. "(Conner) has gotten more consistent, just building trust. And (Veney), who was hurt during the spring, is finally out there playing, and he's showing some of the things that we hoped he would."
Conner began his high school career as a wide receiver before playing more tight end as a senior. He started his college career at Ole Miss before moving on to East Carolina and then Vanderbilt.
In 2025 at East Carolina, Conner caught 23 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
"I started playing as a receiver," Conner said. " ... I actually was not putting my hand down until later on in my senior year. ... Just learning the game of college football, that was a big thing. Since I've been here, I'd say just get more consistent in being in the playbook, that's definitely something that has helped."
In high school, Veney was an offensive tackle, but even then, he would remark to his coaches that he should be playing tight end. The position seemed like a clear fit, but his high school only had one other usable tackle, so that was the position Veney had to play.
He started his college career by playing one season at Army. He transferred to Morehouse, a Division II school in Atlanta, and got noticed by an agent who was representing a teammate. That landed him on Vanderbilt's radar. Now, he brings uncommon size to the tight end position at 6-4, 270 pounds.
"As a tight end, everybody wants to touch the ball," Veney said. "But at my size, I really try to dominate and put in my hands with somebody and put them in the ground."
Fisher has been around the program a long time and has had to re-gain weight after losing some during ROTC training this summer. Though Fisher was on the field a lot in 2025, he didn't frequently touch the ball; he made just two catches and didn't have any carries. This year, he's getting in 100 catches per day to try to work more on being a pass-catcher.
And then there's Taylor, moving to tight end after four seasons as a quarterback at Vanderbilt, Colorado and Ball State. Taylor, according to Flaherty, sometimes makes plays where he looks like he belongs in the NFL, but the consistency needs to improve.
It is far from conventional as the Commodores attempt to rebuild at the position without second-round NFL draft pick Eli Stowers. But if Vanderbilt's gamble works, it could provide a unique advantage.
"We're all different and we're all unique in our own way," Conner said. "Certain things that some of us in the room might be really good at, someone might not be all the way there with, and vice versa. So that's something, us all playing different positions and then coming all into one, I feel like shows up every day at practice."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football tight ends include former QB and OL. A look at unusual room
