Houston TE Tanner Koziol Getting Attention From Intriguing Team at the NFL Combine
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Last season, Houston Cougars football did not have a single participant in the NFL Combine for the first time since 2018. That changed this year. Coach Willie Fritz’s turnaround brought some big-time transfers to the program that helped shape Houston’s 10-3 bowl-winning season.
One of those big-name transfers was senior tight end Tanner Koziol. He, alongside senior cornerback Latrell McCutchin Sr., were the two Houston Cougars invited to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine this week. Koziol was one of the best tight ends in the country in his last collegiate season and got the proportionate attention from the media and NFL team scouts.
One of the NFL teams that met with Koziol would be a great fit for him.
Koziol Staying in H-Town?
The 6-foot-7, 240-pound prospect was a Mackey Award semifinalist, given to the best tight end in the country. While Koziol was a star at Ball State, his eventual late transfer to Houston gave him the spotlight in the Big 12 to demonstrate his talent.
Koziol led all FBS tight ends with 65 receptions, while his 651 receiving yards ranked third among FBS tight ends and second in the Big 12. Both were the most by a Cougar tight end since 2008. He was an elite red-zone threat and pulled in six touchdowns in 2025.
Koziol earned All-Big 12 First-Team and got second-Team honors from the AP. The do-it-all tight end who was praised for his blocking by Fritz made 17 contested catches, which was the best in the country among tight ends. The four-time All-American was also 86th on ESPN’s top 100 players of the 2025 season.
His Texas Bowl performance of nine catches for 76 yards and one touchdown, as well as his Senior Bowl outing, officially put him on the big boards for NFL teams, and Koziol has gotten a lot of interest across the league. That includes the local Houston Texans.
U of H TE Tanner Koziol informally met with the Houston Texans! Said it went “phenomenal” #htownmade pic.twitter.com/PzXq5vHLHr
— Texans Roundtable 🔴 (@TexanRoundtable) February 26, 2026
When asked at the Combine, Koziol revealed that he has met with the Texans in an informal interview, and that it went “phenomenal”. Keeping Koziol in Houston would be a great idea for the Texans, who are in the market for a TE2 behind Dalton Schultz.
2024 fourth-round draft pick Cade Stover has been unreliable and dealt with injuries, but Koziol would give the Texans an elite red zone threat with his height, along with great hands and the ability to block. This would be an ideal second-day draft pick that would help out the Texans’ depth at the position.
Tanner Koziol is a TE prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.72 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 39 out of 1356 TE from 1987 to 2026.
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) February 28, 2026
Pending agility testing, bench tomorrow, splits projected.https://t.co/6rvExTo2FZ pic.twitter.com/UUlliRX3wx
If chosen by the Texans, he would be the second Houston Cougar ever to be drafted by the Texans. The first is Tank Dell, who is expected to return from his severe knee injury in the 2026 season. There is a lot of competition out there for Koziol at the moment, such as the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles, who have also met with the Cougars’ TE.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.