HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans have signed two members of their 2007 draft class—S Brandon Harrison and G Kasey Studdard—and have agreed to a contract with unrestricted free agent P Matt Turk, it was announced today. The Texans also released seven players.
Harrison (6-2, 215) was Houston's first of two fifth-round picks and was the 144th player selected overall. He was a two-year starter and a three-year letterman at Stanford, playing in 44 of 45 possible games in his career and starting 33 of 34 possible contests over his final three seasons. He finished with 186 tackles (127 solos), two sacks, seven tackles for loss, five interceptions, three fumble recoveries, a blocked kick, one forced fumble and 16 pass breakups.
Studdard (6-2, 303) was drafted by the Texans in the sixth round with the 183rd overall pick. The three-time All-Big 12 choice started the final 38 games of his career at Texas and helped the Longhorns offense become one of the most explosive in the country, averaging over 40 points and 455 yards per game in his three years as a starter.
Turk (6-5, 240) has played in 171 games in 11 pro seasons for four teams, including all 16 games last year with the St. Louis Rams. Turk's career net punting average of 37.3 yards per punt is the best in the NFL since he entered the league in 1995. Only 335 of Turk's 862 career punts (38.8 percent) of his punts have been returned.
Last year with St. Louis, Turk averaged 43.5 yards per punt on 72 attempts, and his net average was 38.3 yards per punt. His net averaged ranked seventh in the league, and he had 26 punts downed inside the 20 versus just five touchbacks.
The Texans released the following players: FB Cory Anderson, G Atlas Herrion, C Enoka Lucas, CB Derrick Roberson, RB Darius Walker, P Eric Wilbur and LB Zac Woodfin.
