Projected 2017 record and S&P+ ranking: 5-7 (94th)
Biggest strength: The secondary features a host of experienced play-makers.
Biggest question mark: Do the Green Wave have a quarterback? It was a black hole last year.
Biggest 2017 game: I’m going to pick an odd one: the Oct. 13 trip to FIU. It’s a tossup on paper, and a win could make the Green Wave 3-3 or even 4-2 heading into the second half of the season. But the likely wins are hard to come by after that.
Summary: Fritz is a master of the second-year breakthrough, but Tulane’s breakthroughs have been minimal through the years. Whose history wins out?
Still, the players that duo left behind have plenty of proven production. Six full-time starters return, including an all-upperclassman five-man secondary with a combined 48 starts from 2016 alone.
“Up front, we trust those guys are going to do what they have to do, and we are going to be better on the back end,” junior cornerback Donnie Lewis said. “We feel like we can be the best secondary in the conference, and I feel like we are going to be far better as a defense due to the chemistry we have.”
http://www.whig.com/article/20170811/AP/308119853#
QUICK FIX: Unsatisfied with Tulane quarterback play last season and unwilling to trust a true freshman with the job, Fritz aggressively recruited junior college transfer Jonathan Banks, who began his college career at Kansas State, but left that school after contracting mononucleosis. Banks has demonstrated the ability to run, throw, and perhaps most importantly, throw accurately on the run. In a multiple offense that contains elements of the triple option, such a skill set is critical. That, combined with Banks’ maturity and Power-5 pedigree made recruiting him a priority for Tulane.
“We’ve got some decent depth inside,” he said. “We’ve got some guys with big bodies, and you have to have big bodies in (the American Athletic Conference).”
Seniors Sean Wilson (6-foot-4, 305 pounds) and Helen Cox graduate Eldrick Washington (6-2, 285) have practiced with the first unit every day. Fourth-year junior Braynon Edwards (6-2, 322) backs up Wilson, while redshirt freshman De’Andre Williams (6-3, 280) is the leader for the other reserve spot.
Very similar to what the Coogs are doing with Khalil Williams
In simpler terms, the coaches wanted Franklin to have a direct impact on more plays than he did as a free safety. They also saw how 2016 nickel starter Richard Allen, two inches shorter than Franklin and 30 pounds lighter, was too small to handle some of the American Athletic Conference receivers he covered.
Bold prediction for 2017: Tulane makes a bowl at 6-6.
Who was that lanky DE they had last year that kept flying around the ball? Please tell me he graduated…
The Green Wave aren’t winning every time they’re on the field, but like Georgia Tech, Navy and Army, they’re physically challenging teams in ways they aren’t, typically. By bringing in someone unconventional like Fritz, Tulane acknowledged the uphill battle of its station — a private school in a talent-rich area, dwarfed by LSU — while answering the call of being competitive in the Group of Five’s toughest division top to bottom.