The One Houston Player Picked in the 2026 NFL Draft and Where He's Headed

No Houston Cougars players were selected in last year's NFL Draft for the first time since 2015. That only lasted one season, as Houston returns its presence to the draft stage in 2026.

Houston football was officially out of the rebuild in 2025 in the second season under coach Willie Fritz. The Cougars are now completely back to relevance in football after their first 10-win season since 2021, and a bowl game win.

The reason why Houston was able to show it belonged in the Big 12 and get to double-digit wins was the talent on the roster. Fritz and the coaching staff greatly improved Houston's high school and transfer portal recruiting. Some of Houston's stars got the eyes of the NFL, but only one heard his name announced in the draft.

Tanner Koziol: 5th Round, 164th Overall

Tanner Koziol is headed to the @Jaguars!

Round 5, Pick 164#NFLDraft x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/6WJz07KNMw
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) April 25, 2026

Koziol is the one who becomes the first Houston player to be drafted in the NFL since Patrick Paul in the second round in 2024. Koziol is the first tight end from Houston to be drafted since 2010.

Fritz had called him a Day 2 pick after the Texas Bowl, but Koziol was projected to go on Day 3 as a sixth-round pick according to NFL.com. He eventually went right in the middle of the fifth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound tight end is expected to be an elite red-zone target in the NFL with his large frame. 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 in the regular season. Both were the most by a Cougar tight end since 2008. He pulled in six touchdowns and added one more in the bowl game.

Koziol was a Mackey Award semifinalist and joins a stacked tight end room in Jacksonville. Brenton Strange is the starting tight end, while the Jaguars also drafted Nate Boerkircher from Texas A&M in the second round.

While Koziol was surprisingly the only Houston player selected in the NFL Draft, plenty of Cougars were signed to an NFL team following the draft.

Latrell McCutchin Sr. was surprisingly not taken in the draft even though he was projected to be a fifth round pick according to NFL.com. However, he signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent.

Let’s go Trell!😤@bil_trell UDFA ➡️ @Titans #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/obSbooC4oA
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) April 25, 2026

The 6-foot-1 corner was invited to the NFL Combine in February. McCutchin Sr. started all 13 games for Houston this past season and made it to the All-Big 12 Second Team. He led the Cougars with 10 pass breakups and put up a 78.2 PFF defensive grade, which was second on the team.

Running back Dean Connors was on the top 20 available running backs on Day 3, but was unable to make the cut. He signed a deal with the Los Angeles Rams as an UFA.

The two standout defensive lineman for Houston in Carlos Allen Jr. and Eddie Walls III both signed UFA deals with the Atlanta Falcons and LA Rams respectively. Cornerback Zelmar Vedder also signed an UFA deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. Vedder was one of the best performers at Houston's Pro Day.

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