Ready to get back to it with some more scouting reports? Today, we’ll be trekking up to Nashville and talking about Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt had a surprising year after breakout star Tyler Tanner led the Commodores to a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a very analytically-inclined team with a lot of potential fantasy options. Lots to talk about! Let’s get to it.
Tyler Tanner
One of this year’s big breakout stars is Tyler Tanner, who has become one of the most statistically dominant players in the country. He spearheaded one of the most fun teams of the season with his electric play, passing, defensive playmaking, and his athletic plays well above his size as a 5’10 PG. (Note: He did withdraw but when I uploaded this, he was still in)
On Drives: 60/93 = 64.5%
On Layups: 100/161 = 62.1%
On Pullups: 11/36 = 30.1%
On Dunks: 17/18 = 94.4%
(Note: Shot charts for Vanderbilt players are not 100% accurate due to court and arena design)
So, let me make this pretty clear from the jump. If Tyler Tanner was taller, he’d easily be in the top 10 for me. However, you watch the NBA playoffs these last few weeks, and you can clearly see all of these smaller players getting hunted on defense. Tyler Tanner is smaller than the small guys getting beat on defense. Yes, he’s got great defensive numbers, a lot like Reed Sheppard. However, this one is just a much harder sell due to the size. Yes, he’s athletic and he should be able to compete on that front. However, if he gets an injury that limits his athleticism at all, he’s not going to play. Teams have routinely told us that they aren’t valuing these pure PG’s. I do expect a small shift to head back towards that, but the margin of error is so small.