Report: Vanderbilt wide receiver Will Sheppard expected to play against Auburn

Vanderbilt received some positive news on Saturday morning ahead of their home game vs. Auburn this afternoon when news broke that wide receiver Will Sheppard will likely play.

According to college football insider Pete Thamel, the star Commodore wideout was held out of contact portions of practice this week with an upper body injury. However, that was a precaution to allow him to make it to Saturday in full health, which appears to be the case. So, per Thamel’s report here, Sheppard is good to go against the Tigers.

“Source: Star Vanderbilt receiver Will Sheppard is expected to play against Auburn, as he’s been dealing with an upper body injury and wearing a non-contact jersey in practice,” Thamel tweeted Saturday morning.

The fourth-year receiver is in the middle of a strong year in 2023, currently having played in all nine games while racking up 591 yards and eight touchdowns — numbers that are on pace to surpass his career-best totals from last fall. However, it’s not completely clear who will be throwing him the ball throughout Saturday’s contest.

Clark Lea addresses decision sub Walter Taylor in at quarterback

Down by 26 points only halfway through the second quarter last weekend against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea had seen enough. Lea replaced starting quarterback Ken Seals with backup QB Walter Taylor. After the game, Lea discussed the pivotal decision.

“We weren’t able to find space in the run game. We weren’t able to find space in the passing game,” Lea said. “It just felt like, if we were going to continue to turn over the ball with three and outs, that we needed to do something to open up some first and second down efficiency.

“Obviously, Walter gives us the element of quarterback run that that makes it a little more challenging on them and that’s the reason we did it. For us, it’s just about what can we do to be effective? What can we do to find a formula that allows us to maintain possession of the ball? And that was our attempt.”

While Taylor didn’t lead the Commodores to a miraculous comeback, he showed glimpses of potential. On only his second play in the game, the 6-foot-7, 235-pound sophomore broke off a 15-yard run for a first down, leaving Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s head spinning.

Of course, the Rebels still held on for the sizeable victory, but there was some sort of spark with the backup QB in there. We’ll just have to see whether Lea goes back to him at some point this week.