New York Jets sign wide receiver Josh Doctson

Josh Doctson (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

The New York Jets upgraded their offense this past weekend with the acquisition of wide receiver Josh Doctson of Mansfield, Texas. Doctson played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2019, but missed the first two months of the season because of a hamstring injury. After he played for Minnesota in their 27-23 win over the Denver Broncos on November 17 and did not record a catch in seven snaps, Doctson was waived by the Vikings on November 26.

Prior to the 2019 National Football League regular season with the Vikings, Doctson played three seasons with the Washington Redskins. In 33 games, he had 81 catches for 1100 yards and eight touchdown catches. Doctson had a single game high 84 yards receiving in a 40-16 Redskins loss to the New York Giants on December 9, 2018.

Doctson had a memorable college football career. After playing his freshman season with the University of Wyoming in 2011, Doctson transferred to his home state of Texas where he played for three seasons from 2013 to 2015. In his last two seasons with the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, he had 1018 yards receiving and 1327 yards receiving. Also in 2015, Doctson had 14 touchdown catches and was an All-American.

Expectations were extremely high for Doctson coming out of college. He was in fact the Redskins’ first round draft pick, 22nd overall, in the 2016 National Football League Draft. In his rookie year, Doctson had an Achilles injury, which forced him to only play two games.

Now with the Jets, the focus on Doctson will be even higher as he will be playing for an organization that has struggled mightily offensively in recent years and will be put under the microscope by the New York media. Kristian Dyer of Sports Illustrated  has already stated that Doctson “might already be one of the best wide receivers on the team’s roster.” The hype has already started in the Big Apple for Doctson and it is only February.