The Texans closed out the 2012 NFL Draft with Texas A&M kicker Randy Bullock in the fifth round (161st overall) and Purdue offensive lineman Nick Mondek in the sixth round (195th overall).
Bullock (5-9, 205), from Klein High School just north of Houston, won the Lou Groza Award in 2011 as the nation's top kicker. He was 29-of-33 (87.9 percent) on field goals. He is the first kicker ever drafted by the Texans and was the first kicker taken in this year's draft.
"Obviously, he has the leg strength," Texans special teams coordinator Joe Marciano said. "I worked him out twice, so leg strength is important and mindset is important. I just think he's a very strong-minded individual. He has a lot of confidence in himself."
Bullock watched the draft in College Station, about 90 minutes from Houston, and was ecstatic to get the call to be drafted by his hometown team.
"It's my dream, growing up in Houston," Bullock said. "It's a dream come true. When I saw the Houston area code, my heart stopped."
The Texans drafted Mondek 195th overall with their eighth and final pick of the draft. He was the third offensive lineman and fifth Big Ten player taken by the Texans in 2012.
Mondek (6-5, 307) was a two-year starter at Purdue. He moved from defensive tackle to offensive tackle in the spring of 2010.
"We had (Washington Redskins 2011 first-round pick) Ryan Kerrigan that year, and none of the O-linemen on the right side could stop Ryan Kerrigan," Mandek said. "So they took my aggressive mentality and put me over there just to be able to see if we could stop him and be actually able to practice and actually run our offense the way it should be run.
"I'm real aggressive. I take the defensive mentality and use that on the offensive line."
Mandek, who started at right tackle as a junior and guard as a senior, will play tackle for the Texans. Head coach Gary Kubiak compared him to 2011 seventh-round pick Derek Newton.
"(He's) almost 6-6, ran a 4.84 (40-yard dash)," Kubiak said. "We just think he's a very athletic kid that can play outside. We kind of looked at a little bit like the (Derek) Newton pick last year. That's how we came up with Newton from a height-weight-speed standpoint and then he turns out being a heck of a player and he's in position to really help us this year, so hopefully Nick will help us do the same."
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