Vanderbilt Commodores Defensive Star to Return on Medical Waiver
After Zaylin Wood suffered his high ankle sprain in the Vanderbilt Commodores’ third game of the 2024 season, his future was in doubt.
Well, on Tuesday the future became much clearer.
Wood has received a medical hardship waiver to return for one more season, according to 247Sports. That will allow him to play in 2025, which would be a seventh season of college football for Bowdon, Ga., product.
He transferred in from nearby Middle Tennessee for his final season and emerged as a player to watch defensively during spring and fall workouts. That got him into the starting lineup and he played three games before he suffered the injury.
He finished the year with seven tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.
He watched from the sidelines as Vanderbilt had one of its best seasons in years, which included a seismic upset of Alabama in Nashville, which put the program in the national spotlight.
Wood spent five seasons with the Blue Raiders, where he worked his way up to team captain in 2023. During that last season in Murfreesboro, he finished the season with 16 tackles, including 4.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
His most productive season for Middle Tennessee was in 2022, when he played in 13 games and made 11 starts. He made 34 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and an interception. In a victory over the Miami Hurricanes, he had two sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception return for a touchdown.
The season before, in 2021, he played in 13 games and started 12 and had 29 tackles, including four tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick. In the Blue Raiders’ win in the Bahamas Bowl, he Intercepted a pass and added three tackles.
He entered college in 2019 and redshirted after just four games. In 2020 he played through the COVID season and participated in nine games, including his first collegiate start.
In his six college seasons, he has played in 52 games with 34 starts, along with 102 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and two interceptions.
At Heard County High School in Bowdon, he was a three-star player who was all-state and all-region in his final high school campaign, as he had 112 tackles and 36 tackles for loss. He was picked the region defensive player of the year.