Auburn, Vanderbilt set visits for ex-Stetson lineman Vincent Chen

Auburn and Vanderbilt are getting a close look at one of the more intriguing FCS offensive linemen in the portal, and Vincent Chen’s itinerary says plenty about where the market has gone. The former Stetson offensive tackle, a 6-foot-8, 330-pound native of DeLand, Florida, was set to visit Vanderbilt on Tuesday and Auburn on Thursday as both schools looked for depth up front before summer workouts.

That is the part worth paying attention to, because Chen is not just a big body on a visit list. He is exactly the kind of prototype tackle Power Four programs have learned to mine from the FCS level, where size, development and game reps can line up in a way that makes a move up the ladder realistic. For Stetson, it is the other side of the portal economy: when an offensive tackle with Chen’s frame starts drawing SEC interest, the cost is not just losing a starter. It is losing a proof of concept for a program that has spent years developing him.

The broader backdrop makes the story bigger than Chen alone. The NCAA approved a single Jan. 2-16 football transfer window for all FBS and FCS players beginning in 2026, eliminated the spring portal window and shortened the post-coaching-change window from 30 days to 15 days. Even with those changes, roster movement has stayed massive, with more than 4,900 FBS players and more than 3,200 FCS players entering the portal during the 2024-25 school year. That is the kind of churn that turns every spring and summer visit into a referendum on how well smaller programs can keep their best linemen.

Vanderbilt has already shown how aggressive it plans to be. The Commodores went 7-6 in 2024 and finished the season with a Birmingham Bowl win, then added South Dakota transfer Bryce Henderson, a 6-foot-8, 325-pound second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer, to the offensive line mix. Auburn has been just as active, closing its 2026 portal class with 39 newcomers, including nine offensive linemen. When both schools are chasing tackles with Chen’s measurements, the message is plain: FCS offensive linemen are no longer hidden inventory. They are live evaluations for programs that need size, depth and immediate competition at the highest level.