Former Tulane Football Star Ranked Among Top Players Entering NFL Draft

This Tulane Green Wave star safety is the only player from the program that appears among the top prospects for the NFL Draft.

Sep 14, 2024; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Deion Burks (6) runs with the ball as Tulane Green Wave safety Caleb Ransaw (7) defends during the first half at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Tulane Green Wave football team hopes to hear at least one name called during the NFL Draft later this month in Green Bay, Wis.

The player with the best chance to make that happen is clearly safety Caleb Ransaw, and earlier this week ESPN.com released its latest NFL Draft Top 300 prospects going into the home stretch of the draft evaluation process.

Ransaw was ranked No. 223 overall. That’s a good place to be, considering there are 257 total selections. If NFL teams were drafting based on that board, he would be selected sometime in the seventh round.

Ransaw and the rest of the draft class are in the final stages of the process, which includes Top 30 visits. NFL teams are inviting players they’re interested in talking with to their facilities for a full day of discussions. Some players take multiple visits and some players take none.

Last month, ESPN’s Matt Miller, an analyst who wrote a mock draft piece, was impressed enough with Ransaw to project him as a third-round pick.  

“Ransaw is one of my favorite players in this class — a fast, aggressive outside cornerback who could even kick to safety if needed,” he wrote.

Ransaw is one of those players that has participated in the entire draft process starting with the Senior Bowl in early February.

In the game, he intercepted a pass, putting his name at the forefront of scouts and general managers who were at the game.

At the NFL combine later in February he scored high in a key analytic measure of his overall performance.

Then, in late March, he went over to the New Orleans Saints’ facility for his pro day.

He’s been included in recent mock drafts, all of which have him going in the seventh round. If Ransaw is not selected, he’s a likely candidate to be signed as an undrafted free agent, which would give him more choice in where he goes.

Ransaw is trying to join running back Tyjae Spears and linebacker Dorian Williams as recent draft picks out of the program. Both Spears and Williams were third-round picks selected in 2023. Tulane hasn’t had a first-round pick since 2004 when quarterback J.P. Losman was selected by the Buffalo Bills.

The Green Wave won’t have one this year. But it’s possible that Ransaw adds his name to the long history of players selected in the NFL Draft.