{"id":353006,"date":"2026-06-27T22:10:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353006\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T22:10:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:10:50","slug":"how-this-freshman-wr-can-change-the-game-for-houston-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353006\/","title":{"rendered":"How This Freshman WR Can Change The Game for Houston Next Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">Houston has had an amazing time when it comes to recruiting classes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5u\">Willie Fritz has put Houston on the map when it comes to football, and many athletes are taking note of the culture forming with the Cougars. When it comes to recruits, high school athletes have been visiting Houston more often than in years past.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5x\">Not only are the HS athletes joining Houston, but many players from the transfer portal have also taken their opportunity to join the Cougars. Some players have come from in-conference rivals or big name schools as a way to get more playing time on the turf.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">As a freshman, Keavon Roberts joins the WR room in Houston as a three-star prospect that has opportunity to grow into the next big star in Houston. But with all of the new veteran talent joining the Cougars this year, can Roberts get a fair shot at playing time?<\/p>\n<p>Keavon Roberts and Houston<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kw4187f6z7r25wfk32.jpg\" alt=\"Houston Cougars wide receiver Amare Thomas\" title=\"Houston Cougars wide receiver Amare Thomas\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6d\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nov 22, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars wide receiver Amare Thomas (0) runs with the ball as TCU Horned Frogs linebacker Namdi Obiazor (4) attempts to make a tackle during the fourth quarter at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">Hailing from Port Arthur Memorial HS in Port Arthur, TX, Roberts committed to the Cougars in early 2024. Roberts was a multi-sport athlete who played football, basketball, and track and field.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">Building up a resume in HS isn&#8217;t easy, but Roberts has a very impressive one after his senior year. He graduated as a three-star prospect and was in the top 100 WRs in the country after a 16 total touchdown year as a senior. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6n\">Roberts had other options apart from the Cougars, including Big 12 teams like Texas Tech and UCF. He ultimately chose Houston after six other offers from different teams.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">Now, Roberts is in a good situation that not many other WRs get the chance to be in. As a freshman, he has the opportunity to develop his talents and skills under Fritz and can learn from other WR&#8217;s on the field like Amare Thomas. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">If he is developed correctly, his agility from being a multi-sport athlete will definitely threaten any secondary he comes across, as his stamina could be the key to scoring touchdowns and making offensive pressure. Under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/houston\/football\/why-conner-weigman-is-set-for-breakout-senior-season-with-houston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Conner Weigman<\/a> as his QB, Roberts should have no problems when it comes to targets and playing time. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">Like many other freshmen, we could see Roberts earlier on in the season against teams like Southern and Georgia Southern as a way to prepare him for Big 12 football. Many WRs have failed to take the next step when it comes to college football, but Roberts could be one of Houston&#8217;s best recievers from the 2026 recruiting class. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston has had an amazing time when it comes to recruiting classes. Willie Fritz has put Houston on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-353006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}