2026 Tulane Running Backs Deepest in Years
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Last week, we took a look at the Tulane quarterback situation going into 2026. This week, a peek into what we think is the deepest running back depth chart we can remember in a long time.
2025, a Scramble to Reload Early
In 2025, an opening game injury to Tulane's starting running back changed everything. Instead of Maurice "Mo" Turner carrying the rock, the Green Wave went through a bevy of runners before settling on freshman two-thirds of the way through the year on Jamauri McClure, who showed incredible speed and power.
For 2026, Tulane coaches went into the transfer portal to strengthen the running back corps, building what we at On SI Tulane believe is the deepest room we have seen in quite awhile. With the way the Will Hall offense is run, those in the running back position can be all over the field, not just lined up with the quarterback, so, the more, the merrier.
Here is the On SI Tulane look at backs who return and those expected to have an immediate impact on the Green Wave running game, remembering this is based upon just a few weeks of Spring practice where the Tulane offense was still being installed and athletes were learning each other, including an offensive front that had not yet jelled.
Top Returnee: Mo Turner
There is no telling how far Mo Turner would have gone in what was intended to be his senior season. In the first 28-minutes of the 2025 season opener, Turner ran for 86-yards on 14-carries. Then, a high ankle sprain sidelined him before the first half came to an end. He saw spotty play the rest of the season.
The Louisville transfer was THE starting running back for the Green Wave last year before that injury. Now, with a complete offseason to recover Turner showed in the Spring why coaches tabbed him as their starter in 2025: his explosive first step through a hole had returned, his power was evident on each run, he has a sneaky step-through move that leaves defenders grasping air, he is able to catch just about anything thrown his way. Turner is like a high-idling engine, ready to shift it into a different gear and move quickly.
If Turner can stay healthy, an issue in his senior year at Tulane and in his junior year at Louisville before transferring to Uptown, the senior can help lead the way in all aspects.
Speed & Power: Jamauri McClure
As a redshirt freshman, Jamauri McClure was still figuring out his role in the Tulane offense. Thus, when Mo Turner went down in the opening game of the 2025 season, the Green Wave coaches worked their way through a number of running backs, trying to find the right player to slot into the starting role.
It wasn't until the Florida Atlantic game in week nine that McClure found his footing. The Alabama native would come just six-yards shy of the 100-yard rushing mark on just nine carries, his longest going for 26-yards in that game. McClure would clear the century mark twice in the final five games of the year, including 121-yards in the American Conference championship game.
McClure can make people miss and find that second gear quickly to get through a quickly closing hole in the defense. He can also catch the ball well, something he worked on as 2025 progressed.
The sophomore sat out off-season drills after having surgery on both shoulders, so we didn't get to see him in the Spring. He is expected to be full speed in the Fall.
Scatback and More: Jaylin Lucas
Shifty. Lightening quick. Sticky hands.
Transfer Jaylin Lucas is not the biggest guy in the room. The Tulane roster lists him at 5' 9", 170-lbs. But that small package can absolutely fly.
Before coming back home to New Orleans, the former Edna Karr graduate excelled at Indiana, earning All-American honors as a returner after the 2022 season, before entering the transfer portal and heading to Florida State. Lucas saw spotty play for the Seminoles last season, carrying the ball only 27-times and gathering 11-receptions. He was expecting to make a bigger impact in the kicking game, but only returned nine kickoffs and three punts.
With the expanded role of running backs in the Will Hall system, Lucas came back home to New Orleans for his senior season. Expect him to line up all over the field on offense and, from what we saw in the Spring, we believe he will be the go-to kick and punt returner for the Green Wave.
Shifty & Powerful: DJ Dugar
DJ Dugar (pronounced DOO-gar) had a stellar high school career in Austin, Texas where he totaled nearly 4,000 yards for Glenn High School with 48 touchdowns He was named first-team all-district and district MVP three times while setting his school’s single-season rushing record and career rushing record. Dugar also competed in track, baseball and basketball and was an academic all-district selection three times.
Dugar received offers from Arkansas, Houston and Oklahoma State out of high school, deciding to go the Cowboy route. After only seeing limited action midway through the year against Texas Tech, he saw the opening at Tulane and transferred to Uptown, where Dugar starts the year as a redshirt freshman.
From what we witnessed in the Spring, Dugar is a power runner, able to sneak through what seems like the smallest of cracks in the defense and, at 5' 10", 213-pounds, run through tackles, showing off an almost bowling ball effect. He can change directions quickly for a young man his size and can be a difference-maker in short yardage and goal-line situations.
Straight Up Power: Johnnie Daniels
Johnnie Daniels piled up over 44-hundred yards and 56-rushing touchdowns in his high school career at Crystal Springs in Mississippi. He was a four sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball while also running track, hitting a 100-meter time of 11.2. He had scholarship offers from Memphis, Samford and Alcorn State. Instead, Daniels opted for the junior college route, playing for Copiah-Lincoln.
Daniels earned National Junior College Athletic Association All-Region 23 honors in 2023. He was Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference South Offensive Player of the Year and named to the All-MACCC First Team. He Rushed for 1,253 yards on 183 carries while scoring 15 touchdowns, averaging 104.4 yards per game and 6.8 yards per carry and also had 23 receptions for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
Daniels transferred to Mississippi State for his junior year in 2024. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry as he became State’s No. 2 back behind Davon Booth. He rushed 108 times for 540 yards and four touchdowns and had eight catches for 76 yards. His senior year, though, had him getting very little playing time. So much so, that he asked to be dropped from the MSU roster in September, which new coach Jeff Lebby did. Over the final nine games, Daniels sat out and redshirted, allowing him another year of eligibility.
The 5' 10", 200-lb redshirt senior can absolutely run you over. From our observation of Spring practice, Daniels had plenty of power and hit inside holes quickly. When asked to turn the corner on a sweep, he did not have the same speed and cutting ability as other TU running backs. He is absolutely a short-yardage/goal line running back.
Tulane Stadium: A Century-Old Look Back
In celebration of this year being the 100th anniversary of the opening of old Tulane Stadium on the Uptown campus, we are looking back at the greatest athletes to grace the old field and beyond. Since On Si Tulane looked at this season's running backs this week, on Wednesday we take a stab at who we think was the greatest Tulane RB in the 100-plus years of Green Wave football.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.