Tulane Pre-Portal Roster Talk

[kgreene829]

Rosters have updated and we have transfer intentions so while we don’t have our final roster yet let’s take a look through the Tulane roster, the players who intend to enter the transfer portal, my plan for them, and potential portal additions.

 

We start off with the QB position where Paul McCullers-Sanders will remain the starter but after losing backup QB Gimel Kopech the backup options are a bit thin. Redshirt sophomore Igor Peters is a solid QB but with the expectations Tulane has they would want a better backup plan then him and Quy Wilbur. Joseph White also doesn’t seem like someone that has a future at Tulane due to the offense they run. A couple high profile QBs are entering the portal headlined by FSU QB Kelly Jarwin but reports have come out that Tulane is not interested in targeting a player with desires to be a full time starter this season. Kgreene829 was asked about this and he said “Jarwin and some of the other top QBs would be amazing backup options to have but you have to remember those are guys who are looking to start and make a name for themselves. We have our guy at QB and are looking for someone that may not have the pedigree to be a starter but can come in if we need him and generate the buzz around his name he needs to start elsewhere.” It has also been reported redshirt sophomore Quy Wilbur may be interested in entering the transfer portal himself. We again asked coach for a comment “I like Quy and I hope he ends up staying. He fits the scheme we run and I told him that and while I would love for him to stay and fight to be a long term backup with Igor he doesn’t have a path to start here and I can’t fault him if he decides to transfer.” With PMS being a junior Tulane will also start their search for their next long term starting QB next season so this won’t be the last time we talk about the position.

Now we move to RB which is a position that for sure will be a big conversation this year. QB Haloti Thomas and FB J’Mon Marte were an amazing duo at RB for Tulane the past two seasons but they both have graduated so it’s time to see what the team has been doing to prepare for their departure. Now this is a position that Tulane is really excited about with 9 RBs on the roster Tulane has really been trying to find someone to be the guy and the guy they are really excited about is 5 star Frank Joliffe coming off a redshirt year as a freshman and while he seems to be an average back the staff are really excited about what he can be as he develops. Outside of Joliffe the team has been trying to find a RB every year in recruiting with the exception being this past season. Kapri Stephenson is now a redshirt senior and he has earned his dues coming in and working every year and while there is a ton of excitement about Joliffe Stephenson has developed into a very respectable player being the best RB on the team. Stephenson has done so much in the background throughout his career at Tulane that he deserves a chance to fight for the starting job and at the very least deserves to split carries in some capacity. Behind them is redshirt junior Shin-Soo Martinez who will be the RB3 if he doesn’t transfer which is a very real possibility and while the team has promised he won’t be a bad scheme fit experts expect him to take his talents elsewhere. Redshirt sophomore Andres Rodarte would be the RB3 if Martinez does transfer. With Stephenson graduating I expect Tulane to look to bring in someone who can compete as a depth RB in recruiting to ease the load on Joliffe a little or just to have a guy that can come in after an injury.

Tulane loses their star FB J’Mon Marte but with Joseph Gillette and Kevin Burns as true freshman and sophmores the position is in good hands. While neither will be the threat in the run game Marte was with Tulane not using FBs that isn’t something they are really looking for at the position. Roger Lorange is very likely to enter the transfer portal and with two younger and better options on the team expectations are that the staff will not attempt to convince him to stay.

At WR Dashaun Knight graduates and with him goes the last direct link to Fernando Thomas in the WR room. However when an empire falls a new one always rises to take its place and true juniors Jeffrey Bouthillier and William Henry are ready to bring Tulane back to the golden age the WR room had just three years ago. Behind them true sophomore William Zeider and redshirt junior Brett Jackson fill out the depth. True freshmen 4 star Arnold Jeanty and 3 star Francisco Mendoza, while expected to take a redshirt year, show that the WR room has more depth than it ever has had. True sophomore Isaac Shorter wants to be close to his home in Texas and is contemplating entering the transfer portal. We reached out to coach Kgreene829 about this and he said “Look I love Isaac Shorter but he’s a bum, if he wants to go then he can and I wish him luck but I don’t think teams will be climbing over themselves to bring him in.”

TE is the biggest concern on the roster. True freshman Patrick Franklin is the starter and he is nothing special and the TE2 true freshman Ruben Bueno has already gotten the nickname Ruben no Bueno for being a bad player. Tulane will make sure to bring in a transfer TE and maybe even 2 of them.

O-line as a whole takes a bit of a hit losing 3 starters but with Brian Kindred coming off his redshirt year, Brian Thurston developing into a startable player as a redshirt sophomore, Ameer Hentges being a viable starter as a redshirt senior, and a 5 and 4 star true freshman coming in Tulane seems well equipped to handle the losses. Expect Tulane to bring in 1 or 2 backup level O-linemen so they have the flexibility to redshirt their freshman OGs.

DE is a position Tulane is still trying to sort out the as they want to bring in a young player to start opposite Jacob Owens in 2 years at the absolute latest but despite losing a great DE to graduation Reid Kalambayi and Zane Bellinger are two seniors that Tulane hopes can have an impact for Tulane this year. Steven Cimber and Jacob Owens are waiting in the wing but despite that Tulane has expressed concern about the D-lines ability to make a real difference and may look to see if they can bring in a real game wrecker in the transfer portal.

DT is a position group that Tulane doesn’t have a true monster at but has a ton of quality at. Trent Sale is a redshirt senior who is the best of the room but redshirt junior Malik Brinson and redshirt sophomore Timothy Beatty are not far behind him in talent and then redshirt freshman Forest Rutledge and redshirt sophomores James Sherlin and Michael Robinson round out the room. In the DT room Tulane has an A-, two B+’s, two B-’s, and Rutledge is a B but as a redshirt freshman doesn’t get + or -. Michael Robinson has expressed interest in transferring but the staff is trying hard to keep him. Coach Kgreene829 said “We all love Michael and would love for him to stay but if I have to be honest with you it’s greed over everything. I could say we want to keep him and see what he can turn into but at the end of the day he’s a guy I want to keep even if we don’t have a real role for him in mind.”

Jose Hernandez remains the teams main OLB with Gregory Barr stepping into the spot left open by the departure of Carroll Hill. The OLB depth isn’t great but is serviceable and as a whole OLB is a position that gets lost in the conversation about Tulane as it’s neither great nor horrible. This position is a microcosm of the defense for coach Kgreene’s squad as the defense is put to the side a bit and talked about less just because Kgreene is an offensive minded coach that has struggled with the defensive side of the ball. I think if the resources are available OLB is a position that will be upgraded but that is something you can say for the entire defense as the mentality on defense for Tulane has been to bring in as much talent as possible to cover for the problems they have gameplanning on defense.

ILB is led by redshirt junior Kevin Robles who is a top 100 player and the best player on the team. Outside of Robles ILB is a weak position so expect Tulane to try and bring in a quality depth guy but outside of blowouts Tulane is hoping no ILB other than Robles will have to see the field.

Tulane’s secondary has really come together nicely with a group of 4 players 2 redshirt juniors and 2 redshirt sophomores at CB. With Clint Sinkfield being an A- and Oscar Riser, Jakob Sampson, and David Levine all being B+. Tulane will have trouble replacing the talent at this position but for now they are enjoying having 4 guys that they are comfortable covering an opponent's top WR. SS Kevin Milano returnS for his redshirt senior years as an A- and FS Ulrick Landry steps up to replace the graduating Kyle Are as a redshirt senior who is a B+ to round out a secondary and a defense that Tulane has high hopes for. Redshirt junior SS Elvis Winbush has expressed his desire to transfer and Tulane is hoping to bring him back and while he might not see much playing time this year he is in line to start next season.

As far as special teams go the team brings in freshman Anthony Twigg to compete with junior Justin Mcdonald at kicker and Richard Biggins remains the starter at punter. With that said Tulane has acknowledged the importance of kickers and punters and would love the opportunity to bring in upgrades at both positions as they have viewed both current starters as disappointments. Kgreene was asked about this and he said “When you are trying to win and compete at the highest level you can everything matters and at the end of the season I don’t want to look back and say ‘if only we had made a couple more FGs’ or ‘ if only we won the field position battle more’.  At the college level you are always on a timeline because each player gets 4 years of playing time at the most and bad special teams play can be the difference between wins and losses. I don’t want to have to look at my top players and tell them that we fell short of our potential during their careers because of bad special teams play.”

That brings us to the end clearly Tulane still has some holes to fill as they identified TE, K, P, QB, ILB, O-line, OLB, and DE as positions that they want to address and for the most part that is in order of importance. The transfer portal opens on Wednesday and we will see what improvements can be made to Tulane’s roster before the season begins.
 

Edited Saturday at 08:07 AM by kgreene829