Wide receiver Josh Doctson has been reunited with his original quarterback as he tries to reboot his NFL career. His move to Minnesota also placed him with what he believed would be his first team going into the 2016 draft.
"I thought I was going to be a Viking coming out," Doctson said, per Mark Craig of the Star Tribune. "So being in this building feels good."
The Vikings wanted to select the 6-foot-2 wideout out of TCU with the 23rd overall pick, only to see the Washington Redskins take him off the board one pick earlier. Minnesota chose Laquon Treadwell instead.
Incidentally, both Treadwell and Doctson, after having their fifth-year options declined in May, were released by their respective teams last Saturday. Doctson signed with the Vikings on Monday and said he was eager to play with Kirk Cousins again.
"Minnesota called, and it was a no-brainer (because of) knowing Kirk," Doctson said, via the team's website. "It's a good feeling to see somebody familiar out there under center. It's going to be good, and we'll just continue to work. ...
"You can't really buy chemistry, so being able to know we had a couple years there where we were building some chemistry, hopefully that's still there. I assume (it is)."
After being limited to just two games in his rookie year, Doctson caught 35 passes for 502 yards and six touchdowns from Cousins in 2017. He posted 44 receptions for 532 yards but just two touchdowns as the Redskins' second-leading receiver last year.
Days before the season, Cousins expects he'll be able to quickly connect with his former running mate, believing Doctson's size and speed will provide depth to an already strong Vikings receiving corps.
"It's hard to bring someone in who I have no reps with and expect them, with two or three days of practice, to jump in, but you have a longer relationship, I think that makes a big difference, and I think he does have some special skill sets that we can use to our advantage," Cousins said. "You want depth at every position. It's not a luxury you have much of the time, but anytime you can have a guy, who for me in 2017, was really our top receiver, to have a guy like that who can provide depth to your roster, if heaven forbid, something does happen to one of our receivers, I think that's a big asset.
"I'm excited to get him going, but there is certainly a transition period of getting him caught up to speed, which is part of that transition process."
