Josh Doctson (born December 3, 1992) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2015. Doctson was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the first round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He was also a member of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Early life

Doctson attended Mansfield Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas, where he was a three-year

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in both

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In his first season of football as a junior, he saw action in six games and hauled in 18 passes for 220 yards with a long of 25. As a senior in 2010, he caught 35 passes for 558 yards and 5

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in nine games, earned first-team All-District 5-5A honors and was voted a team captain, as well as being selected Legacy's Most Valuable Player. Doctson was rated by '' Rivals.com'' as a three-star recruit. He committed to the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

to play

on December 14, 2010, choosing the Cowboys over

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and

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College career

Doctson had 35 receptions for 393 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games as a true freshman at Wyoming in 2011. After the season, he transferred to

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU). After sitting out 2012 due to

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transfer rules, Doctson played in 12 games with six starts in his first year at TCU in 2013. He had 36 receptions for 440 yards and four touchdowns that season. As a junior in 2014, Doctson had 65 receptions for school records of 1,018 yards and 11 touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Doctson was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the

in the

. Doctson sat out the preseason due to an

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

injury. He made his first career reception in the season opener in a 16–38 loss on ''

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'' to the

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. During pregame warmups in Week 3 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, Doctson aggravated his Achilles injury keeping him sidelined until October 21, 2016, when he was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. In a 2017 game against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Doctson recorded his first career touchdown on a 52-yard reception. He recorded an 11-yard touchdown reception in the win over the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. Doctson made an essential diving 38-yard reception against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

with less than two minutes and setting up the Redskins at the one yard marker in Seahawks' territory. The following play running back Rob Kelley scored a touchdown winning the game for the Redskins with a final score of 17–14. In the Thanksgiving game over the Giants, he scored the final touchdown that gave the Redskins both the lead and win. In 2018, Doctson played in 15 games with 12 starts, finishing as the Redskins second-leading receiver with 44 catches for 532 yards and two touchdowns. On May 1, 2019, the Redskins declined the fifth-year option on Doctson's contract, making him a free agent in 2020. On August 31, 2019, the Redskins released Doctson.

Minnesota Vikings

On September 2, 2019, Doctson signed with the

on a one-year deal. He was placed on injured reserve on September 12, 2019. He was designated for return from injured reserve on October 30, 2019, and began practicing with the team again. He was activated on November 15, 2019, prior to Week 11. He played seven snaps without making a reception in the Vikings' 27–23 comeback win over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, but was waived on November 26, 2019.

New York Jets

On February 22, 2020, Doctson signed with the

. On August 6, 2020, he announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. According to reports, Doctson was set on traveling to Africa for a humanitarian mission, because he "feels that his calling is to help the underprivileged at this time". Doctson was released on May 7, 2021.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 3, 2021, Doctson signed with the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

. He was released on October 12, 2021.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctson, Josh 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Mansfield, Texas Players of American football from Ellis County, Texas Players of American football from Tarrant County, Texas American football wide receivers Wyoming Cowboys football players TCU Horned Frogs football players All-American college football players Washington Redskins players Minnesota Vikings players New York Jets players Arizona Cardinals players