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Tulane Football December Transfer Portal Roundup: Wide Receivers


BY JAKE WEINSTOCK


Welcome to Part 3 of our 10-part series recapping the additions and subtractions to Tulane football's roster, now that the December transfer portal has closed and the spring semester uptown has begun. If you missed our articles breaking down the December signees from the high school class of 2025, or Parts 1-2 of our series, scroll back through our Blog section and check that out. Be on the lookout for the forthcoming installments to this series, as detailed, below:


Part 1: Quarterbacks (released on January 16, 2025)

Part 2: Running Backs (released January 20, 2025)


Part 4: Tight Ends

Part 5: Offensive Line

Part 6: Defensive Line

Part 7: Linebackers

Part 8: Cornerbacks

Part 9: Safeties

Part 10: Specialists


WHO'S OUT?


One to the portal (1): Khai Prean

Four to graduation/NFL Draft (4): Mario Williams, Yulkeith Brown, Donte Fleming, Phat Watts


Losing all three starting receivers (Mario Williams, Yulkeith Brown, Donte Fleming) is never ideal, but certainly this staff restocked that cupboard beautifully, last year, inheriting a roster that too was losing all three starting receivers from the 2023 team (Chris Brazzell, Lawrence Keys, Jha'Quan and Jackson). Phat Watts returned, in a reserve role, and saw 90 snaps, over the course of the season. The one portal departure, this past December, was Khai Prean. Prean was a four-star recruit by 247 sports, out of high school, and was their 13th highest ranked player in the State of Louisiana, in the class of 2023 (St. James High School). After not seeing the field for LSU during his true freshman season, in 2023, he entered the spring portal in 2024. Tulane took a flier on him, and now less than a year later, he entered the portal again, unfortunately still looking for the right fit, after playing just 30 snaps on offense for the Green Wave, across the duration of the 2024 season.


There are still a number of quality returners on the roster, a group that consists of Shazz Preston, Zycarl "CJ" Lewis, Bryce Bohanon, Shaun Nicholas, and Sidney Mbanasor. As our readers know, in the early signing period, the Wave committed a pair of high schoolers from the class of 2025, as well; Oliver Mitchell, Jr. and Antwaun Parham. Still, though, replacing 192 targets, 125 receptions, 2,094 yards and 11 touchdowns, which is what the trio of Williams-Fleming-Brown generated, is no easy task. Let's examine how Tulane has begun the process of attempting to do so:


WHO'S IN?


Three (3): Jimmy Calloway, Omari Hayes, Anthony Brown-Stephens


Jimmy Calloway is a sixth year receiver, having spent the first three seasons of his career at the University of Tennessee, and then the last two at the University of Louisville, where he was a teammate of new Tulane running back Maurice Turner (be sure to check out Part 2 of our series, if you have not yet done so). Before originally committing to and enrolling at Tennessee, Calloway, a member of the class of 2020, held offers from Florida, Auburn, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, among others. Calloway was a contributor in 2023, catching 19 of 34 passes for 229 yards (12.1 yards per reception), but his 2024 spring, summer and season were mostly derailed by injuries. He has excellent versatility, having almost exclusively been a slot receiver at Tennessee, before transitioning to playing much more on the outside, at Louisville.



Anthony Brown-Stephens is a third year player, transferring in from the University of Kentucky. A three-star recruit from the class of 2023, he chose Kentucky over offers from Oklahoma, Michigan, Tennessee, Penn State, Washington, and Colorado, among others. Despite that, he did not often see the field for the Wildcats in 2023 and 2024, and is now seeking an opportunity to play. Like Calloway, Brown-Stephens is a player that's long on athleticism and potential, but perhaps a little short on FBS game experience. It will be interesting to see whether either or both emerge as clear-cut options, exiting spring practices.



Omari Hayes was the first of these three receivers to be committed, and was clearly a staff priority very, very early on. Indeed, he committed to play Uptown way back on December 15. Hayes burst onto the scene at FAU in 2024, as a redshirt sophomore (he will be a redshirt junior at Tulane, in 2025). Had it not been for a hamstring injury he would have played significantly more than the still impressive 410 snaps for the Owls, this past season. At 5'9", 170 pounds, he played 82.9% of his snaps in the slot, catching 39 of 55 targets for 590 yards (15.1 yards per reception) and 3 scores. His yards per route run was an impressive 2.60 and he was dangerous in the intermediate/deep area, maintaining an average depth of target above 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Most noteworthy, however, is that FAU quarterbacks had a 116.5 quarterback rating when targeting him.


Hayes maintained excellent grades by Pro Football Focus, regardless of where he was targeted:


20+ yards beyond line of scrimmage: 89.1

10-19 yards beyond LOS: 93.4

0-9 yards beyond LOS: 94.1

Behind LOS: 82.4

We're a long way from the season, but I would be moderately surprised if we don't see Hayes in the starting lineup in the season opener against Northwestern, over Labor Day Weekend.



Be on the lookout for Part 4 in our series, the Tight Ends, early next week. Roll Wave!

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Unknown member
Jan 24
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Nice analysis

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Unknown member
Jan 23
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks.

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Unknown member
Jan 23
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Great job! Thanks

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