Houston Football: 5 breakout candidates for the Cougars in 2017

Houston football will take another shot at making a New Year’s Six bowl this season. Which players could become stars in 2017?

Two years ago, Houston knocked off Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl to cap a 13-1 season. The Cougars had high hopes of returning to a New Year’s Six game in 2016. Tom Herman brought back a veteran team and fortified it with a top-40 recruiting class. Everything was in place to repeat as American Athletic Conference champions.

Things started well for the Cougars. They knocked off Oklahoma in the season opener, and for a time Houston looked like a College Football Playoff candidate. But then Herman’s squad fell to Navy, ending any fleeting hope of crashing the playoff party. They would go on to lose twice more in AAC play, falling to fourth in the division behind the Midshipmen as well as Tulsa and Memphis.

After failing to repeat as conference champs, Herman bolted for the Texas job and Major Applewhite took over as head coach. Greg Ward Jr. is also gone after starting several seasons at quarterback. Beyond those losses, though, the Cougars once again return a veteran group that brings back 15 starters from last season’s squad.

Even with the return of so many players, though, there are plenty of opportunities for new talents to take over in Houston. Click ahead to read about five Cougars who are candidates to break out as stars in 2017.