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Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans speaks at a press conference during the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Texans Interested to Add Competition at Key Position

Originally posted on Houston Texans on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Apr 11, 2026 5:22 PM ET

The Houston Texans have been diligent throughout the 2025 offseason to round out their roster better from where they ended last year, adding prospective new starters on both sides of the ball bia free agency, and head into the draft with the chance to add even more depth with one of their eight total selections.

However, despite the tireless work done in the Texans' front office to get this roster prepared to take on the 2026 campaign, there's one key position in the mix that Houston is seemingly still eager to add competition to: their starting punter.

According to KPRC2's Aaron Wilson, the Texans are searching for competition to go against newly acquired punter Kai Kroeger headed into next year, and one name to pop up as a potential candidate for that role is Syracuse punter Jack Stonehouse.

"They are looking for competition at the punter spot against potential 2026 starter Kai Krueger, whom they ended up trading for from the New Orleans Saints," Wilson said.

"The Texans had a one-hour-long virtual interview with Frank Ross, special teams coordinator, and Syracuse All-ACC punter, Jack Stonehouse. He averaged [47.1] yards per punt. Third best-ranked punter in the country, ranked byPro Football Focus, and he broke his own net punting average of 47.1."

Texans Searching for Punter Competition?

Through the whirlwind of this year's free agency that the Texans traversed, one of the fallouts of that action led to previous starting punter from the past two seasons, Tommy Townsend, to join the Tennessee Titans on a two-year contract.

Taking his departure into account, the Texans opted to bring in a potential fill-in with Kroeger via a late-round pick swap with the Saints, and for the meantime, slots him in as Houston's only punter on the roster rolling into next year.

But that status could change quickly. If the Texans and Frank Ross were intrigued in adding another face to the position, having the draft right around the corner brings a perfect opportunity to do just that, even if Houston does so by adding a UDFA rather than using one of their eight draft picks on one.

Syracuse P Jack Stonehouse on the Texans' Radar

Perhaps Jack Stonehouse, who has spent the past three years with Syracuse coming off his best season yet, could be on that short list of candidates who can bring that aspired competition

And by meeting with the Texans' special teams coordinator for over an hour during the pre-draft process, it might fuel the fire for that fit to come to fruition by the end of the month.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

During his latest season with the Orange, Stonehouse finished with 59 total punts on an average of 47.1 yards per punt, with his longest being from a distance of 64 yards. He's also improved his punting average in every college season he played.

He, along with a few other top punters projected to land towards the end of the draft like Georgia's Brett Thorson and Michigan State's Ryan Eckley, will be worth keeping an eye on as the Texans continue to get their roster buttoned up in all three phases.

This article first appeared on Houston Texans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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