Vanderbilt football's offense got on the field for its first day of practice Aug. 5, allowing a look at several intriguing offensive players.
The competition between quarterbacks Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz took center stage as coach Clark Lea and offensive coordinator Tim Beck evaluated. But just getting back into the swing of things, without full pads on, one day of practice could not paint a full picture.
Beck and Lea have stated that the intention is for this year's offense to combine aspects of both Vanderbilt's 2024 offense, which was focused on moving at a slow tempo and chewing clock, and the 2025 Diego Pavia-led offense that was much more explosive and had the ability to utilize uptempo looks.
"Every offense wants to be explosive,"
tight end Cole Spence said. "It's just about execution. You can make a counter play, if both of you block everybody upright, and we're running a lot of iso in those kinds of things. But then when you get a first play first down ... we want to go tempo."
Here's what we learned from the offense in the first day of practice:
Vanderbilt football quarterbacks update
Without full pads on, it was difficult to truly evaluate the performance of each quarterback, as they did not face any rushers. But in the drills they did do, both were a bit messy at times and missed some throws. Curtis showed a good release and ability to hit receivers in stride, but he also had a few bad plays. Berlowitz missed slightly high or low more often than Curtis did, though the receivers were often able to adjust.
Beck reiterated the timeline that Lea previously gave in that he hopes to have a starting quarterback by the first scrimmage.
"(Curtis) rips vertical balls," Beck said. "He can flat rip those seam balls and throw the ball down the field. He's done a great job. He's still learning, and anytime you go from one system to another, there is just a learning curve there, and it just takes some time. And so what we've got to do as coaches is give him the best opportunity to continue to grow and get better, and then we'll see where we're at here in a couple weeks."
Which pass-catchers will start alongside Junior Sherrill
Sherrill is Vanderbilt's most proven receiver, but there are a lot of questions about who else will start alongside him.
The early favorite to be No. 2 is Old Dominion transfer Ja'Cory Thomas. Beck mentioned a few other breakout candidates.
"Junior's our leader first and foremost," Beck said. "The one that everybody kind of forgets about that played a lot of ball last year, he didn't catch a lot of catches, but he played a lot of football for us, is (Tristen Brown). ... And then we've got some new additions with Cole Adams and Ja'Cory Tomas. Brycen Coleman moved from tight end to receiver. I see all those guys along with Kayleb Barnett."
Why pass-catching production could come from running backs
The pass-catching might not all come from receivers. Beck hinted that Vanderbilt, with several experienced running back options, could use more 21 personnel, which entails two running backs, one tight end and just two receivers on the field. Sedrick Alexander has been used some as a pass-catcher, and it's likely that will continue.
"We've got five (running backs) at least that can play," Beck said. "We want to get them all involved as much as we can in different ways, so that might be ... a 21 personnel where we put an extra back in and take a receiver out."
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 quarterback Jared Curtis, offense looked at Vanderbilt football first practice
