Ke’Shawn Vaughn is one of those players who has taken the full college tour. He has an interesting story, going from Illinois running back in 2015, recording 723 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman, to backup in 2016 as a sophomore before deciding to transfer back home to Nashville to play for Vanderbilt in 2017 until now.
Having to sit out during that 2017 season helped him learn the offense and impress the staff heading into his junior season in 2018.
He didn’t look the least bit rusty during his junior season with the Commodores, despite having carried a football just 60 times since 2015, as he finished the season with 157 carries (the same as his freshman season with Illinois) for a career-best 1,244 yards and 12 touchdowns. Not only that, but he caught 13 passes for 170 yards and two more scores.
Vaughn was a walking home-run threat, averaging an impressive 7.9 yards per carry for the Commodores in 2018 and he’s set himself up for a monster 2019 season as arguably the most established returning running back in the SEC. He may actually finish with the best stats of any SEC back in 2019.
The Tennessee native just needs more carries to prove himself. If he can approach 200 in 2019 and maintain his yards per carry effectiveness, he could hit the 1,500-yard mark for Vanderbilt and be one of the nation’s most talked-about stars.