Vanderbilt football held its first preseason practice Aug. 5 and the defense was able to get its first work in.
It was difficult to evaluate the defense as the players were not in full pads and primarily worked on drills and 7-on-7 reps.
The cornerbacks were a standout position group, with both stalwarts like Martel Hight, as well as younger players like Cayden Daniels. Defensive coordinator Steve Gregory also pointed out Jordan Matthews, who transferred from Tennessee ahead of the 2025 season, as someone who could take on a bigger role.
Here's what we learned about the defense from the first practice:
Martel Hight now focusing on defense
Martel Hight attempted to be a two-way player a year ago, working in offensive reps in addition to defense. Now, he is focusing primarily on defense again
after his production dipped in 2025. On the first day, Hight already appeared to be disruptive.
"A little bit of the emphasis is to kind of take some off his plate and make him a cornerback that has some punt return ability," Gregory said. "If they decide that they want to have something for him to do on offense, they will. But right now, he's been really focused on playing corner and I think you see the fruits of that throughout this offseason because he's been playing at a high level."
Miles Capers back to full health after shoulder injury
Capers, an experienced edge rusher, has missed a lot of time in his career with injury. This past spring, it was a shoulder injury that kept him out most of that session. But now, Capers is back to full health and ready to go.
"I feel great," Capers said. "I feel stronger, I feel faster."
How Vanderbilt's pass rush can improve in 2026
In 2025, Vanderbilt had some success in run defense but struggled in pass defense. Part of that was missed tackles in the secondary, but the Commodores could also serve to get more disruptive up front.
Brian Allen Jr., a defensive end transfer from Iowa, is one player Gregory pointed out who should figure in at edge. So will Nick Rinaldi, who has established himself as a pass-rush specialist.
But players at other positions could step in to help rushing the passer as well.
"Bryan Longwell and Nick Rinaldi are really good pass-rushers for us," Gregory said. "Bryce Cowan has an ability to rush off the second level. I think Brian Allen, who we added in the portal from Iowa, is going to be a guy that has opportunity. Issa (Ouattara), as a big guy inside, can get some pass rush on some of the mismatches that he can create on the interior part of the line, but we'll continue to evolve that through training camp."
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: What we learned about Vanderbilt football defense in first practice
