We’re inside of 24 hours until ink hits paper in college football, the most important day of the offseason in the SEC as touted prep seniors sign binding letters of intent. National Signing Day has become a February spectacle we’re all interested in as football fiends, one that breeds anticipation at every major program in the country.

Derek Mason is putting the finishing touches on his third recruiting class for the Commodores.

The Vanderbilt defense showed significant improvement under Mason’s direction as a coordinator in 2015, and he was able to use that momentum to look down some very good talent in the defensive backfield for this recruiting cycle.

The star piece of the class is a local player in CB Joejuan Williams, who didn’t compete in his senior season due to an eligibility issue caused by his desire to graduate from high school early.

He graduated early, putting him on campus with fellow early-enrollees S Zaire Jones and QB Deuce Wallace.

Jones is another big defensive catch for Mason out of the heart of Mississippi. Both he and Williams could make an early impact with the bonus of participating in spring practice.

Wallace is another instate kid that the Commodores were able to pry away from Northwestern. He will likely redshirt but is projectable as the Commodores’ starting quarterback in the not-so-distant future.

Wide receiver has been a position of glaring need since Jordan Matthews and Jonathan Krause graduated following the 2013 season.

Mason has attempted to address that need in each class, and will again spend at least three scholarships on the position in 2016 in hopes of getting better production.

One discouraging thing for Commodores fans has to be that the two most recent commitments are the two lowest rated players of the class, according to 247Sports composite rankings. That’s an indication of a team settling on recruits rather than winning battles for higher rated players that they were hold scholarships for in hopes of landing them.

Though, one only needs to look at Jordan Matthews, a two-star prospect and a last-minute addition, to understand that those guys could be the proverbial diamonds in the rough.

VANDERBILT 2016 RECRUITING CLASS

  • National rank: 49
  • SEC rank: 13
  • Commitments: 19
  • Commitments by rating: 1 four-star, 16 three-stars, 2 two-stars

Top incoming offensive players: Three-star QB Deuce Wallace, three-star C Sean Auwae, three-star OT Devin Cochran.

Top incoming defensive players: Four-star CB Joejuan Williams, three-star S Zaire Jones, three-star CB Frank Coppet.

Primary remaining targets: Three-star DE Bradlee Anae, three-star DE Kelvin Lucky.

Best-case scenario: The Commodores have settled in with a group of commits that seem intent on coming to Nashville, including arguably their three best prospects already on campus as early enrollees. While that may not make for an exciting signing day in terms of uncommitted prospects, it should also help Vanderbilt fans sleep easy that this class will remain in tact.

VERBAL COMMITS

  • Sean Auwae, C, three-star
  • Devin Cochran, OT, three-star
  • Jackson Winrow, WR, three-star
  • Kalija Lipscomb, WR, three-star
  • Donaven Tennyson, WR, three-star
  • Frank Coppet, CB, three-star
  • Jamauri Wakefield, RB, three-star
  • Austin Quillen, S, three-star
  • Elijah Hamilton, CB, three-star
  • Braden Kopp, OT, three-star
  • Drew Birchmeier, DT, three-star
  • Cameron Todd, DT, three-star
  • Turner Cockrell, TE, three-star
  • Sam Loy, P, three-star
  • Kenny Hebert, LB, two-star
  • Andre Mintze, DE, two-star

CURRENT CLASS

  • Joejuan Williams, CB, four-star (early enrollee)
  • Deuce Wallace, QB, three-star(early enrollee)
  • Zaire Jones, S, three-star (early enrollee)

Editor’s note: Saturday Down South’s references to recruiting rankings are to the 247Sports.com industry composite ranking.