Oren Burks made a smooth transition from linebacker to safety in order to give Vanderbilt a hard-hitting, ball-hawking presence in the secondary last fall. Can he, Andrew Williamson, and Jahmel McIntosh lock down the middle of the field in 2015?
Vanderbilt's safeties put in more work than the average defensive back last fall; a porous front seven helped lead to plenty of extra tackles for the players stationed 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That put plenty of pressure on a group of players that had just graduated a pair of standout starters in Kenny Ladler and Javon Marshall.