An undrafted West Virginia long snapper who won the Texans' starting job as a rookie and became the only snapper left on the roster.
Austin Brinkman went unselected in the 2025 draft but arrived in Houston with a reputation as one of college football's best long snappers. He beat out veteran competition to replace longtime Texans snapper Jon Weeks and held the job through his rookie season.
Path to the league
Brinkman redshirted his first year at West Virginia before winning the starting long snapper job in 2021 and holding it for four seasons, appearing in 50 of the Mountaineers' 51 games. He signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 draft on a three-year deal worth close to $3 million, including $110,000 guaranteed.
Career highlights
At West Virginia, Brinkman earned Phil Steele third-team All-American honors, first-team All-Big 12 recognition and a Patrick Mannelly Award semifinalist nod as the nation's top long snapper following the 2024 season. He also made the Academic All-Big 12 team all four years.
2025 season recap
Brinkman won the Texans' starting long-snapper job out of camp, stepping in as the replacement for longtime veteran Jon Weeks. He held off a brief camp challenge from a veteran signing and appeared in the vast majority of Houston's games as the team's lone long snapper on the roster.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Austin Brinkman
- Pro Football Reference: Austin Brinkman
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Long Snapper
- Group
- specialTeam
- College
- West Virginia
- Hometown
- Bel Air, MD, USA
- Age
- 24
- Status
- active
