Last season, there was just one FBS team -- Army and its triple-option (967) -- that passed for fewer yards than Tulane’s 1,360. Tulane’s team passing efficiency rating of 93.12 was 128th of the 128 teams at this level of football. Their completion percentage of 42.2 was, again, 128th in the FBS. Their 5.3 yards per attempt was... 127th.
This season, the Green Wave’s passing hopes in a run-heavy offense will likely land on the shoulders of a junior college transfer.
Throughout the spring, Jonathan Banks had taken the majority of reps with the first-team offense. Tuesday, Willie Fritz confirmed that Banks will be his starter under center heading into summer camp and, presumably, for the program’s season opener against Grambling at home Sept. 2.
At least for now, Banks has staked his claim to the job after a competition that included Glen Cuiellette and Jonathan Brantley, the starter and backup, respectively, last season.
“He did a good job this spring picking things up,” the head coach said according to nola.com. “We evaluated practices 1 through 15 and I thought, for a guy coming into a new situation, he did a very good job. He provides us with both a passing and a running threat, which in our offense you need to have.
“We’re excited about his development.”