Getty Brian Lewerke #68 and Jarrett Stidham #4 of the New England Patriots throw during training camp at Gillette Stadium.
While the New York Giants stole headlines on Tuesday with an all-out training camp brawl that captivated the NFL landscape and media outlets alike, the team quietly went about their business of attempting to improve their roster.
NJ Media Group’s Art Stapleton has reported that the Giants have lined up workouts for wide receiver Josh Doctson and quarterback Brian Lewerke. Both players’ workouts have been logged by the league’s transaction wire, although that is only due to each player entering the NFL’s COVID-19 testing protocol. Per Stapleton, the two free agents will officially make their way to East Rutherford later on this week to work out with the team.
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A Former 1st-Round WR & a Record-Setting Signal Caller
Doctson should be a familiar name for Giants fans, as he spent the first three seasons of his career playing within the division after Washington selected him 22nd-overall in the 2016 draft. Ultimately, Doctson has yet to live up to his draft stature. The TCU product has appeared in 34 games (26 starts over his career), hauling in 81 receptions for 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns.
After a short stint with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019 where he failed to log a single target, he latched on with Big Blue’s MetLife roommates, the New York Jets, as a free agent in 2020. His time with the team was short-lived, as he opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns.
Lewerke, an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in 2020, spent training camp with the New England Patriots last season. Lewerke finished his Spartans career as the school’s all-time leader in total offense with 9,548 yards from scrimmage (8,293 passing yards and 1,255 rushing yards). He ranks third among Spartan quarterbacks in career starts (38) and wins (22).
After a stellar sophomore campaign at MSU, Lewerke was perceived by some as a Heisman darkhorse. In fact, his stock was so high that Sporting News mocked him to come off the board No. 7 overall in their first mock draft of 2019. In hindsight, that was an obvious gaffe in projection for Lewerke. Yet, believe us, they weren’t alone in their high expectations for the quarterback, as Detroit Sports Nation highlighted that he was readily mentioned as a potential first-round pick throughout his collegiate career.
The 24-year-old quarterback had signed with the Alphas of The Spring League back in May of this year.
Giants May Have Competition in NFC East for Doctson’s Services
If the Giants like what they see from Doctson, they may need to act fast in order to obtain his services. If not, they could suffer a similar fate as they did this past weekend when the Seattle Seahawks came in and swooped free agent quarterback Sean Mannion out of their grasp.
That’s because an NFC East foe may be lurking. On a recent episode of Inside The Birds, Philadelphia Eagles reporter Geoff Mosher said that the team has “internally discussed the idea of bringing [Josh Doctson] in and I know they have some interest based on what I’m saying here.”
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