Tulane Football: Jon Sumrall Talks Addition of Oregon Transfer QB Ty Thompson

At the dawn of a new era for Tulane football, the Green Wave need a replacement for quarterback Michael Pratt, who set a handful of program records before moving on to prepare for the NFL Draft.

A seemingly very viable option presented itself in the form of Oregon transfer quarterback Ty Thompson, who joined Jon Sumrall's inaugural recruiting class at Tulane. An Arizona native, Thompson was the #9 quarterback in the 2021 high school recruiting class, per 247Sports. He spent the previous three seasons at Oregon, appearing in 17 games in that time. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Sumrall knew the quarterback position was of massive importance, evidenced by the amount of attention the job received from prospective transfer QBs this cycle. Ultimately, Sumrall and his staff saw the best combination of physical and mental components in Thompson from that group.

"It's not just talent that's a big component, it's about who's going to fit the culture, who's going to fit the university," Sumrall noted in his National Signing Day presser. "Ty was the best fit that was available to us. Really big arm. The Oregon staff spoke very highly of his ability, but also his character, which I think is a huge component when you're talking about any player, but even more importantly the quarterback position. He's been a joy to watch at winter workouts."

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Sumrall went on to note that while he's excited about the ability of the 6'4" redshirt junior, Thompson is not guaranteed the starting job. Tulane veteran backup QB Kai Horton will compete with Thompson for that honor, alongside a few other faces in the Green Wave's QB room.

"I'm fired up about Ty, but I'm excited about Kai Horton too. I'm excited about Darian Mensah. I'm excited about that competition that's going to take place," the former Troy coach noted.

Tulane are set to begin spring practices on March 12 in New Orleans.