The preseason accolades continue to roll in for the 2025 Vanderbilt Commodores. While these are just preseason watch lists, it shows there is truly a higher level of talent on this roster than on previous teams and it is beginning to receive the national recognition it deserves.
Rimington Trophy Watch List
Liberty transfer and projected Commodore starting center Jordan White was named to the Dave Rimington Trophy watch list for the second year in a row. First awarded in 2000, the Rimington Trophy is presented to the best center in all of college football. Recent winners include
Seth McLaughlin, Ohio St (2024)
Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon (2023)
Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan (2022)
Tyler Linderbaum, Iowa (2021)
White joined the Commodores in the spring after spending the previous 2 seasons at liberty, playing 759 snaps at guard and 22 at center. Per PFF, Jordan White is the highest-graded returning interior O-Lineman in the SEC and earned a run block grade of 89.0 last season for Liberty. White is expected to be the anchor of a possibly improved Vanderbilt O-Line that includes a lot of new faces.
Other SEC centers named to the watch list include
Jake Slaughter, Florida
Connor Lew, Auburn
Parker Brailsford, Alabama
Connor Tollison, Missouri
Caden Kitler, Arkansas
Drew Bobo, Georgia
The Rimington trophy will be presented on January 24, 2026
John Mackey Award Watch List
Tight End Eli Stowers once again finds his name added to a preseason award watch list. Stowers was previously named to the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and Biletnikoff Award watch lists and now adds the John Mackey Award watch list to his resume. First awarded in 2000, the John Mackey award is presented to the best tight end in college football. Recent winners included
Tyler Warren, Penn St (2024)
Brock Bowers, Georgia (2022 & 2023)
Trey McBride, Colorado St (2021)
Kyle Pitts, Florida (2020)
I have already run through Eli Stowers 2024 stats multiple times in previous articles so I will spare repeating. Stowers is one of, if not the, best tight end in the country. Last season Stowers ended the year as the 4th highest graded TE in the country per Pro Football Focus.
Stowers expects once again to be a major key to Vanderbilt’s offensive success. Other SEC tight ends included on the watch list are
Hayden Hansen, Florida
Luke Hasz, Ole Miss
Miles Kitselman, Tennessee
Lawson Luckie, Georgia
Josh Cuevas, Alabama
Oscar Delp, Georgia
Jack Endries, Texas
Brett Norfleet, Missouri
Bauer Sharp, LSU
Daequan Wright, Ole Miss
Semifinalists for the John Mackey award will be announced Thursday, October 30th. 3 finalists will be announced on Wednesday, November 26th, and the winner will be announced on Friday, December 12th during ESPN’s College Football Award Show.
