Vanderbilt football has a wide receiver problem.
The Commodores (3-2, 0-2 SEC) have a five-star quarterback in Jared Curtis, but he has yet to establish a consistent target to throw to outside Junior Sherrill. Set to face Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1) on Oct. 10 (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN), Vanderbilt will need to score, and that includes finding more consistent production at the position.
In 2026, just five wide receivers have recorded even one catch, and only Sherrill, out of Lipscomb Academy, has recorded more than 10. Tight end Jayvontay Conner and running backs Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young are all in the top five on the team in total catches.
This has been a longstanding issue for Vanderbilt, which hasn't had a wide receiver taken in an NFL draft since
Jordan Matthews in 2014. It hasn't gotten better in the Clark Lea era. Right now, it's one factor holding the Commodores' offense back.
"I think if you can get Junior playing the consistent way he's playing, and that Ja'Cory (Thomas) can pair up with him, and then with the rest of those guys, it's about who has the hot hand," Lea said Oct. 6.
Here's how the position hasn't produced under Lea:
Wide receiver recruits under Clark Lea
Since 2022, Lea has signed 13 wide receivers out of high school. Two of those — London Humphreys and Joseph McVay — were top-500 recruits, and seven others were top-1,000 recruits.
Ironically, Sherrill, the lowest-ranked of them all, has been by far the most successful, and he immediately proved a good local find by the staff. The senior now has 43 career catches for 131 yards and 16 touchdowns, and he also has made an impact in the kick return game.
Humphreys, the second-highest ranked of the 13 recruits, transferred to Georgia after one season. With the Bulldogs, he has never matched the 22 catches for 439 yards he had as a freshman with the Commodores.
Jayden McGowan, ranked No. 792 in 2022, performed as a strong secondary option in 2022 and 2023 but scarcely played at Boston College in 2024. He suffered a season-ending injury after one game at Charlotte in 2025, but has now re-emerged at Baylor.
Tristen Brown, ranked No. 977 in 2024, has become a tertiary receiving option, with 22 catches for 294 yards across the past three seasons.
But several other recruits have provided little or no production, including McVay; Daveon Walker (No. 792 in 2022); Boski Barrett (No. 685 in 2024); and Cameran Dickson (No. 848 in 2025). Neither of Vanderbilt's freshmen in the 2026 class, Owen Cabell and Kahden Smith, have recorded a reception this season.
Vanderbilt football's transfer receiver track record
In the transfer portal, Vanderbilt has never spent top dollar on the best receivers available. It instead has taken a variety of players, including those from mid-major schools who had performed well, and players from big-name schools with little playing time.
The group that has come from other top schools has produced very little. That includes Loic Fouonji, Trent Hudson, Chance Fitzgerald and Cole Adams. Fouonji recorded 12 catches for 187 yards in 2024; none of the others have recorded more than three catches.
"He hasn't had the touches that maybe we would have expected at this point," Lea said of Adams on Oct. 6. "Some of that is circumstantial, situational. Some of it is him just continually settling and he's a guy that I believe we'll have a breakout game at some point where he's just been steady and he's finding his footing and he's getting comfortable in the system."
Thomas has been the best of the true mid-major transfers, with six catches for 78 yards this season, but his performance has been uneven. He looks like a clear No. 2 receiver at times, but other times he disappears. He did deal with hamstring injuries throughout the spring and preseason.
When thinking outside the box paid off for Vanderbilt
The two best transfer receivers Vanderbilt has gotten under Lea have been two outside-the-box players. The first was Richie Hoskins, who played lacrosse at Division III Middlebury as a freshman before opting to play football with the Commodores. In his career, he made 45 catches for 535 yards.
The second was Tre Richardson. He at one time had been committed to New Mexico State under Tim Beck and Jerry Kill, but life circumstances led him to go the junior college route, then to Division II Washburn. Vanderbilt liked Richardson's track speed, and in 2025 he made 46 catches for 806 yards and seven touchdowns. But Richardson transferred to Louisville for 2026.
If the Commodores don't have the money to get top receiver options, fixing the position might require going more outside the box, as Vanderbilt did with Hoskins and Richardson. But it also requires investment to keep players like Richardson and Humphreys before they produce somewhere else.
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: How Vanderbilt football has struggled to find production at wide receiver
