Grading the Tulane Transfer Portal Activity

On January 2nd, we posted a story going over what the Wave had to target during this year’s transfer portal. The orginal article is here, but to save some time, we felt as though Tulane had to get help at quarterback, wide receiver, linebacker, and defensive back.

Once you've gone through our thoughts, we'd like to hear what you think. Please participate in one of the following polls on social media:

The 2026 NCAA football transfer portal under new coach Will Hall is complete. We gave our opinion, now it's your turn.

Grade the Green wave, and then in the comments, add what you think TU got right and where they need more help.
— Colin Cummings (@greenwavecolin) January 18, 2026

Quarterback Grade: D-

It seemed as though Tulane didn’t feel like they needed a quarterback out of this year’s transfer portal. With quarterback Jake Retzlaff heading to the NFL draft this year after participating in the Hula Bowl, the Wave decided to add one QB to the room, increasing from five to six total QBs on the roster.

So who did Tulane get? Zeon Chriss-Gremillion out of Houston. Something is better than nothing, but when it comes to the junior quarterback, there’s nothing that seems to make him stand out from the rest of the transfer competition. The Baton Rouge native only saw significant playing time at Houston during his first year there. During that 2024 tenure, Chris-Gremillion threw for 824-yards, four touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

That is not the best year the Houston transfer has had though, as in 2023 at Louisiana-Lafayette, he would toss for 1,222-yards, 11 TDs, and five interceptions. Chris-Gremillion has shown small flashes, but nothing justifies Tulane receiving a higher grade on a position they needed to address.

Wide Receiver Grade: C+

The Wave seemed to be pretty concerned with their WR room, as they would add three to the roster, including a four-star recruit. These talents include LSU transfer Destyn Hill, returning receiver Zycarl Lewis, and last minute transfer Gabe Daniels.

The LSU transfer out of New Orleans hasn’t seen much of the field during his collegiate campaign. He’s only totaled eight receptions for 109-yards over his two years playing. What can’t be denied however is his talent. The NOLA native was the 7th ranked player in Louisiana, and the 20th best receiver in the country out of high school. He’ll likely see the field much more with the Wave, hoping to find the same rhythm he had in high school.

Tulane did manage to retain receiver Zycarl Lewis for this upcoming season. The returning talent was an effective weapon last year, hauling in 24 catches for 330-yards and two touchdowns. Lewis might not be the number one option, but he’s a reliable weapon that can get in the end zone.

Last but certainly not least is the last-minute transfer out of Syracuse in Gabe Daniels. The Wave have added some blazing speed to the room, as Daniels clocked a sub-11 second 100-meter dash and a sub-22 second 200-meter dash in high school. He only played one year at Syracuse, but he also had a history of playing both sides of the ball in high school and during his tenure at Syracuse. Although he saw a decent amount of snaps, he would only tally two catches for 29-yards, a TD, and one tackle.

Linebacker Grade: D+

Despite us feeling like this was a position of need, the Wave felt as though they didn’t need to address it as much as other positions, only pulling in one player from the portal at the desired position.

The lone transfer linebacker is Dalton Hughes, out of the University of South Alabama. Hughes has done nothing but improve every year he plays football, but his best isn’t enough to justify him being the lone transfer in the position group. His career highs would all come from this past year (except sacks), we he would total 40 tackles, 12 solo tackles, and half a sack.

On the bright side, Hughes has a good size at 6’3, 227 lbs. We hope to see the Jaguar continue on this upward trend that he’s had going since 2022.

Defensive Back Grade: B

Tulane may have only pulled in two DBs from the portal, but they were also able to retain a safety and a corner from last year’s roster as well. The DBs include Kajuan Banks, Macho Stevenson, Kevin Adams III, and E’zaiah Shine.

Kajuan Banks is a stout 5’10 and is very quick, as he used to run track back in high school. He attended the regional qualifier for his 100-meter dash. The Tallahassee native committed to the University of South Carolina in 2022, but he wouldn’t see much of the field during his two years there, so he would transfer to USF in 2024. During his debut year, he would provide a quality 30 tackles, 19 solo tackles, four passes defended, and two sacks. Banks wouldn’t play much during his second year, causing him to enter the portal this year.

Defensive back Macho Stevenson is a Shreveport native that committed to Texas Tech in 2024. During his freshman year, the Louisiana native tallied 23 total tackles, 13 solo tackles, two passes defended, and one forced fumble. Stevenson wouldn’t do much in 2025, only recording one tackle for the year. Being behind such an elite defense and great coaching might be able to bolster this DB room further though.

The Wave were able to retain both Kevin Adams III and E’zaiah Shine for this portal window. Adams III is a solid safety, accounting for 93 total tackles and three interceptions over the past two years. His best year was last year, where he set career highs in total tackles, solo tackles, passes defended, and interceptions.

Shine on the other hand is a gleaming young talent. Hailing from Daytona Beach, the freshman was a standout DB last year, as he totaled 41 tackles, 33 solo tackles, and seven passes defended. The sky is the ceiling for this young man, and the Wave are happy to have him back on the roster.

Total Average Grade: C

This year’s portal gave the Wave what they needed at WR and DB, but they weren’t able to focus on many other positions of need like LB and QB. It’s not a bad thing, as the Wave can develop the talent they already have, but we would’ve hoped to see more out of the Wave when it came to addressing certain positions.