HOUSTON – Once the draft was over, the Texans’ business wasn’t completed.
They quickly signed five players to undrafted deals.
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That includes a three-year contract with $250,000 total guaranteed for Kentucky center Eli Cox, per a league source.
Cox (6-foot-4, 306 pounds) has run the 40-yard dash in 5.06 seconds with a 32 1/2 inch vertical leap. A two-time team captain, Cox was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection two years ago and third-team all-conference last season.
There was $110,000 guaranteed on a three-year contract for West Virginia long snapper Austin Brinkman, per a league source.
Brinkman has been a standout at the collegiate level for five years and an academic All-Big 12 Conference selection as a reliable special-teams fixture for the Mountaineers. He’ll compete with former Sam Houston State long snapper Tucker Addington for the starting job. Addington previously was with the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders.
North Carolina defensive back Alijah Huzzie, a transfer from East Tennessee State, is a 5-foot-10, 193-pound cornerback. He had two interceptions in a win over Pitt last season and returned two punts for 82 yards and a touchdown. At East Tennessee State, he had 179 tackles, 30 pass deflections and a dozen interceptions and was named a first-team All-American.
Huzzie represents a value addition for the future because he had fourth-round grades from multiple NFL teams, per sources. He was graded as one of the top five nickels in the draft by several teams and draft publications. He has positional versatility because can play inside and outside, return punts and cover kicks.
He can take this year to get fully healthy after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the East-West Shrine Bowl all-star game practice after a standout performance. Huzzie is making a speedy recovery and is ahead of schedule and could potentially make his debut late in the season.
Huzzie signed a three-year, $2.675 million deal, per a source.
The Texans signed Louisiana linebacker K.C. Ossai, a Conroe native and the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Joseph Ossai, to a three-year deal that includes a $15,000 signing bonus, plus $160,000 of his base salary fully guaranteed for $175,000 total guaranteed for the undrafted rookie.
Ossai (6-foot-2, 241 pounds) is an Oak Ridge graduate who was named All-Sun Belt Conference. As a junior, he had 95 tackles, 4 1/2 for losses and one sack with two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. In high school, he had 93 tackles, 10 for losses, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He chose Louisiana over Arizona, Army, Air Force, UTSA and Nevada.
After drafting Minnesota All-American left tackle Aireontae Ersery in the second round, the Texans added his wide receiver teammate after the draft on an undrafted deal. Wide receiver Daniel Jackson, a 6-foot, 195-pound All-Big Ten honorable-mention selection, caught 208 career passes to rank third in school history for 2,685 yards, fourth in school history, and 18 touchdowns, sixth in school history.
He caught 75 passes for 863 yards and four touchdowns last season. Two seasons ago, he caught 59 passes for 831 yards and eight touchdowns. At the NFL scouting combine, he had a 6.78 three-cone drill and a 4.07 short shuttle.
“Kind of working through that here in a little bit,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said regarding the undrafted free agent class.“ Draft was just over, so a lot of that will come to fruition here over the next few hours or so. Roster spot-wise, I think with the draft picks, call it 83, 84, so theoretically that leaves about a handful of spots.
“If you go beyond five or six spots, then if you add more players, then you have to make some decisions about the guys currently on your roster. We’ll take a look at what the opportunities are, and if there’s a situation that makes sense, we’ll pursue it. If not, then there will be other avenues like we’ve talked about to potentially add players to the team.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
