If Chris Boswell is going to win the Texans’ kicking job, he is going to have to catch incumbent Randy Bullock.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien indicated Thursday that Bullock is “in the lead” in the kicking battle, according to Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com.
A third-year pro from Texas A&M, Bullock connected on 26-of-35 field goals in 2013 for Houston, forcing touchbacks on 29-of-67 kickoffs. All nine of Bullock’s misses were from 40 yards and out.
Both Boswell and Bullock have hit each hit one field goal try this preseason. However, Boswell, an undrafted rookie from Rice, missed a pair of extra points in Houston’s 32-7 win vs. Atlanta on August 16.
The NFL’s longer extra point experiment has ended, leaving the customary chip shots for the rest of the exhibition season. But those one-point misses couldn’t have helped Boswell’s cause. That said, he’s still in the competition with Bullock, which gives him a chance to show Houston (and other clubs) what he can do.