Tulane Football Leads Group of Five With Impressive Pipeline to NFL Draft
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The Tulane Green Wave football team has shown a consistent ability to produce college football players ready to make the jump to the professional level through the NFL draft.
Former Tulane football star defensive backs Caleb Ransaw and Micah Robinson were selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers, respectively, marking two selections from the program in five of the last six drafts.
Ransaw was taken No. 88 overall, the highest since running back Tyjae Spears, and he and Robinson joined Spears, linebacker Dorian Williams, quarterback Michael Pratt, and wide receiver Jha'Quan Jackson to put six players in the NFL through the last three drafts, a first for the program from 1982 to 1984.
The draft classes that round out the five in the last six drafts are from the 2020 and 2021 classes that include wide receiver Darnell Mooney, defensive back Thakarius Keyes, and defensive ends Cam Sample and Patrick Johnson.
From Uptown to the Draft 📈#UptownFootball X #NFLWave pic.twitter.com/E8AaxoNYUa
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) May 1, 2025
The Green Wave has demonstrated resilience as the gap between Power Four programs and Group of Five schools widens each season. The duo of Ransaw and Robinson made Tulane the only G5 school with multiple defensive draft picks.
Head coach Jon Sumrall is also the only Group of Five coach with two draft picks in the last two drafts, producing defensive end Javon Solomon and running back Kimani Vidal out of the Troy Trojans.
To close out the nation-leading metrics, Tulane is one of three G5 or FCS schools to have multiple draft picks in 2025 and the only G5 school with multiple draft picks in the last three years.
It's a marked change from the 2021 season that saw the program spiral into a 2-10 campaign with little draft attention — the only one since 2020 to have no players selected.
NIL and the transfer portal have contributed to the talent gap, but the Green Wave managed to stabilize and produce consistent NFL prospects.
The development and growth of players who are on the trajectory to the NFL is often lost in the shuffle with player movement and multi-million dollar NIL deals, but through the chaos is an excellent program out of the Group of Five who are making their stand with proven talent.
It also shows a foundation that was initially laid by former head coach Willie Fritz, but one that Sumrall has decidedly carried over, with four NFL draft picks in his first three seasons as a head coach, and his two from the Green Wave being two players he brought into the fold.
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Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com