Vanderbilt football scrimmage takeaways, including AJ Swann, Nashville area freshmen

Vanderbilt football returned to FirstBank Stadium for a scrimmage on Sunday, less than two weeks before the season opener against Hawaii on Aug. 26.

In the scrimmage, which was open to media and player families but not to the public, four different quarterbacks − AJ Swann, Ken Seals, Drew Dickey and Walter Taylor − alternated drives and walk-on Brennan Storer also led two drives at the end.

Unlike last week's scrimmage, which was tilted heavily in favor of the offense, Sunday's was a bit more balanced as players continue to return from injuries.

"We saw last scrimmage, last week, where we needed to make enhancements," coach Clark Lea said. " ... And that's where we put our focus this week and I saw improved play on that side of the ball, specifically on the perimeter. And there were some nice plays down the field on the offensive side of the ball, but we had contested catches and we didn't have the offense behind the defense a bunch and the perimeter was solidified."

Here are five takeaways from the scrimmage:

AJ Swann is Vanderbilt football's QB1

It's no surprise that Swann is the heavy favorite for the starting job. He certainly looked the part Sunday and was the best quarterback on the field. He led three of the five scoring drives the offense had: two for touchdowns and one for a field goal. Seals also led a touchdown drive and Taylor led a field-goal drive.

Though Swann completed just five passes, he made them count, as four went for 19 or more yards. The wide receivers made plays, too. Will Sheppard hauled in a 26-yard touchdown catch over cornerback Tyson Russell, Junior Sherrill made a 51-yard catch over the middle and walk-on Richie Hoskins made a one-handed, 19-yard catch on fourth down.

"I feel like I have a much better command of the offense (than last year)," Swann said. "I fully understand it, last year I was learning as I was going, this year the whole offseason was studying, telling everybody what they have and communicating with the receivers and the O-line."

Nashville area freshmen stand out

Three true freshmen from the Nashville area stood out during the scrimmage: Sherrill and fellow wide receiver London Humphreys, and linebacker Bryan Longwell.

Humphreys, a product of Christ Presbyterian Academy, frequently appeared with the second-team offense and was a favorite target of Seals. He made five catches and drew a pass interference flag, with his biggest play a tumbling catch on the sideline on a tipped ball from Taylor to gain 21.

Brothers Langston and Kane Patterson, also CPA products, were consistently productive from the linebacker position as well. Kane Patterson made two sacks while Langston forced a fumble.

"That's probably one of my more favorite things," Humphreys said. "Not even just CPA people but just Nashville people in general. Just have so many connections with everyone."

Run game work in progress

Though Lea was pleased with the improvement of the running game throughout the preseason, it was still the weakest area of the offense in the scrimmage. Only three running back rushes went for more than 10 yards with none more than 15.

Lea said he hoped to use a rotation of three running backs in 2023. Two of those, he said, would be junior Patrick Smith and redshirt freshman Chase Gillespie. True freshmen Sedrick Alexander, AJ Newbery and Deago Benson, along with redshirt sophomore Dylan Betts-Pauley, will continue to compete for the third slot, with Alexander and Newberry having the upper hand.

Tight end involvement scarce

The tight end room is thin with a season-ending injury to Cole Spence, the projected starter. As such, the tight ends were used almost exclusively as blockers in the scrimmage. Freshman Kamrean Johnson hauled in the lone pass to a tight end, and even that was in garbage time from Storer.

MORE ON FIRST SCRIMMAGE Vanderbilt football wants a more 'explosive' offense in 2023. So far, so good | Estes

Secondary has its moments

With starting safeties De'Rickey Wright and Jaylen Mahoney back after being banged up earlier in the preseason, the secondary was improved from a week ago. There were still some big passing plays, a few pass interference penalties and some open receivers, but the secondary was also more disruptive with tipping passes.

John Howse and Mustafa Dannett, both depth DBs, intercepted Storer, but a more notable play was when Daveon Walker, who just switched to cornerback from receiver, intercepted Taylor.

"I think they've developed," Lea said. " ... But everything that matters comes after this because week in and week out, we're going to go against teams, they're going to put the ball in the air and we learned last year that if we don't play firm on the perimeter, and if we can't cap the ball down the field, you're leaving yourself exposed ... and so they'll have to keep getting better."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football scrimmage takeaways: AJ Swann, Nashville freshmen