{"id":378808,"date":"2026-07-19T16:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T16:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378808\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T16:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T16:43:09","slug":"which-houston-football-players-are-living-up-to-their-nil-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378808\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Houston Football Players Are Living Up to Their NIL Expectations?"},"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=\"5v\">Since head football coach Willie Fritz joined the Cougars in 2024, he has made recruiting a top priority.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5y\">The veteran coach built a team mostly through the transfer portal last season and Houston finished with a 10-3 overall record. He also showed that he can recruit at the high school level by signing the No. 1 recruiting class in Houston\u2019s history with the 2026 class.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"61\">With all the star players Houston has brought into the program across the past two offseasons, which athletes have lived up to their NIL expectations?<\/p>\n<p>3 Houston Cougars That Have Lived Up to Their NIL Expectations<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kxxdkg8b6pewqraqja.jpg\" alt=\"Houston football quarterback Conner Weigma\" title=\"Houston football quarterback Conner Weigma\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6e\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dec 27, 2025; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman (1) looks to pass the ball during the first half against the Louisiana State Tigers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Conner Weigman<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">Houston\u2019s senior quarterback Conner Weigman has absolutely been worth his NIL evaluation, and the Cougars took a major chance on the experienced passer last offseason.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">Weigman made just over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/conner-weigman-25459\/nil\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$1 million<\/a> and he is projected to make a very similar amount in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">While at first it was a big risk bringing in a quarterback who had been injured the majority of his career, Weigman proved that he was worth every penny in 2025.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">Last season, he passed for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns, and Weigman also recorded 171 carries for 700 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">Because of his monster year in 2025, it is safe to say the veteran quarterback has lived up to his price.<\/p>\n<p>Amare Thomas<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">Senior wide receiver Amare Thomas also proved he was well worth his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/amare-thomas-150300\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$700k NIL evaluation<\/a> after having a breakout season in 2025.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">Thomas became a heavily recruited prospect after recording over 1,000 receiving yards in his first two collegiate years at UAB.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">Last season, he finished with 67 catches for 966 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he was Houston\u2019s top target all year long.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">He finished No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and he could be even better in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Shadre Hurst<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">While there hasn\u2019t been an exact amount nailed down to what Hurst\u2019s price officially was this offseason, it was no doubt a really good pay day for the former Tulane standout.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Hurst hasn\u2019t taken a single snap in a game for Houston yet and he is already gaining national attention .<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">He was named to the Preseason All Big 12 First Team just last week, and he was ranked as the No. 9 overall offensive lineman in 2025 by PFF.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\">The 6-foot-2, 295-pound offensive lineman was one of Houston\u2019s best signings from this year\u2019s portal cycle, and he will play a key role in both the running and passing game this season.<\/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\" 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priority.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-378808","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\/378808","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=378808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}