Junior Sherrill and The Wide Receiver Room

Vandy on SI’s projected depth chart: 

Consistent factors: Junior Sherrill, Ja’Cory Thomas, Cole Adams

Rotational pieces: Tristen Brown, Kayleb Barnett, Joseph McVay, Brycen Coleman

Battling: Lebron Hill, Kahden Smith, Cameran Dickson

Room overview

The receiver room has never been a standout position group of strength under Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck due to his generally lower-usage of the position in a pass-catching context, and that trend appears to be continuing with Vanderbilt’s 2026 roster. 

Vanderbilt does have a clear No. 1 in Junior Sherrill, who is coming off of a breakout 2025 season in which he went for 784 yards, caught a career-best 54 balls and went for seven touchdowns. Sherrill will be good again in 2026, the question is whether Vanderbilt has enough around him to have a successful season. 

It’s got two crucial transfers in Ja’Cory Thomas and Cole Adams that will determine its ceiling and will have to have a few good developmental stories under Alex Bailey in order to generate enough production. 

Key Pieces

Junior Sherrill 

Sherrill is the best Vanderbilt receiver in the Beck era and was a favorite target of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia a season ago, but now he’ll have to cater to a more inexperienced quarterback and will be a safety blanket of sorts for him. 

The development of Sherrill is a real success story under Bailey in that he came to Vanderbilt’s campus as a burner in 2023 and has become a more well-rounded and productive player every year of his career.

“I feel like I really did accomplish that,” Sherrill said in regard to becoming a more complete receiver. “I feel like I came short in a couple games, but at the back end of the season I feel like I really picked it up a lot, and was able to help my team a lot.”

Now, the question is whether Sherrill can become a top of the line receiver in the SEC. 

Ja’Cory Thomas

Thomas is the most important player in the room for Vanderbilt and is its biggest ceiling determiner. 

He was a splash transfer addition for this Vanderbilt program after a season in which he went for 41 catches for 719 yards and five touchdowns during the 2025 season at Old Dominion. Thomas has a translatable frame and skillset that appears to be valuable on the other side of Sherrill. 

Thomas didn’t have a standout spring, but he’s going to get every chance to be a difference maker in Vanderbilt’s receiver room. 

“I’m really trying to really get into the playbook,” Thomas said. “We’re just working on the things that I feel like I need to get better at and it’s just really cleaning up everything, like, breaks, just working on my hands, just being physical, all those things.”

Cole Adams

Adams envisioned finishing his college football career at Alabama, but he says life doesn’t always go to plan. Now, he’s joining Vanderbilt’s receiver room as a veteran that projects to get significant playing time. 

He caught 13 balls and went for 176 yards in three seasons at Alabama while never eclipsing 100 yards on a season. Those numbers could be eclipsed in the first few weeks of the 2026 season. 

Adams feels as if he has something to prove. 

“I’m just a competitor,” Adams said. “I want to get out there and compete. It doesn’t matter who you put me up against, I’m gonna go compete. With that chip on my shoulder, I want to show people that I can do it. Anyone that’s ever doubted me, I want to show them that I can.”

Joseph McVay

McVay thought he’d have nearly immediate playing time at Vanderbilt, but he’s had to wait his turn after a few seasons. Now, though, he appears to be in line to receive more snaps than he ever has. 

The question is how much of a role McVay can truly earn. To be one of Vanderbilt’s go-to targets, he’ll have to continue to become a more complete receiver. 

“He’s taking it seriously now,” Bailey said. “He really, really wants to play and he’s fighting for a role. I think he’s kind of learning from the past two years. He doesn’t want it to end up that way, and he’s taking the right steps towards changing it.”

Brycen Coleman 

Coleman worked at tight end in the first few seasons of his Vanderbilt career, but always appeared to be a significantly more gifted receiver than blocker. 

As a result, he’s moved to the wide receiver room and appears to have more of a path to playing time than he ever has. He’s not guaranteed anything, but he’s got a chance. 

“It’s been a seamless transition for him,” Vanderbilt wide receivers coach Alex Bailey said. “Some of the things we asked him to do last year were very much like a receiver. Where he is working to get better is just being on the outside, going against press coverage. 
That’s a little bit different. And, you know, our goal is to ultimately move him around and have him play outside and have him play inside, so those are the points of emphasis, and those are things that he’s working on.”

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