Derrick Shepard Jr. holds the NT · Starter spot in Tulane Green Wave’s defensive tackle room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Derrick Shepard Jr. is a 6'3", 310-pound nose tackle from Dayton, Ohio, who transferred to Tulane in spring 2025 from UAB. He attended Archbishop Alter High School and was a four-star recruit in the 2022 class. At UAB, he appeared in 12 games during 2024, recording 33 tackles. In 2023, he played in seven games as a redshirt freshman and posted four tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss, earning 2023 Big 12 Fall All-Academic honors. In 2025, Shepard recorded 5 total tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 1 tackle for loss.

Cincinnati2022 – 2023

UAB2024

Tulane2025 — present