Why Langston Patterson is among Vanderbilt football trio headed to SEC media days

Three Vanderbilt football athletes, including two former Nashville area high school standouts will be traveling to the Omni Hotel in Dallas alongside coach Clark Lea to represent the Commodores at the 2024 SEC Football Media Days.

The trio consists of junior linebacker Langston Patterson, senior offensive lineman Gunnar Hansen and senior safety CJ Taylor.

The event will be from July 15-18, but the Commodores will be represented during the opening afternoon session held on July 15 along with Ole Miss.

All three student-athletes are expected to play key roles in the program’s success this season, as two were named to Athlon Sport’s preseason All-SEC third team.

Taylor, a former Warren County standout, started nine games last season, finishing tied for second on the team in tackles for loss with 7.5 and tied for third on the team in total tackles with 55.

Patterson, a former Christ Presbyterian Academy star, has yet to start for the Commodores but is coming off a year full of team-leading statistics. During the 2023 season, Patterson led the Commodores in total tackles with 74 (38 solo) and tackles for loss with eight.

Despite Hansen not being named to an all-conference preseason team, his contributions are nonetheless important to the Commodores success on offense. The offensive lineman has totaled 23 starts since his sophomore year. While starting all 12 games during his junior year, Hansen gave up just two sacks after tallying 363 snaps at left tackle before moving to left guard for 277 snaps.

Lawrence Goss is The Tennessean's sports intern with the Sports Journalism Institute. Contact Lawrence at lgoss@gannett.com. Follow Lawrence on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @iamlgoss.