The New England Patriots are rolling four deep at quarterback.
After agreeing to sign Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith on Saturday, the Patriots also decided to add Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke, per his agent Mike McCartney. Smith and Lewerke join Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer on their quarterback depth chart.
Lewerke completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,079 yards with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2019. His best season came in 2017 when he threw for 2,793 yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He took a step back as a junior as he soldiered through a shoulder injury, completing 54.3 percent of his passes for 2,040 yards with eight touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Lewerke also provided some mobility, rushing for 10 touchdowns in his Spartans career. He rushed for 559 yards as a sophomore, subtracting yards lost by sacks as the NCAA counts their stats. He also rushed for 957 yards with 12 touchdowns as a senior in high school. So, he’s never bee afraid to show off his legs.
Lewerke is 6-foot-2, 213 pounds with massive 10 5/8-inch hands. He ran a 4.95-second 40-yard dash with a 7.14-second 3-cone drill and 4.4-second short shuttle at the NFL Scouting Combine. He was a two-time captain at Michigan State.
His best trait as a passer is his arm strength and deep accuracy. He was 20-of-41 with six touchdowns and three interceptions on passes 20 yards or more in 2019, per Pro Football Focus. He struggled in the intermediate part of the field, completing 57-of-118 passes with four touchdowns and six interceptions. PFF marked him accurate on 70.6 percent of his passes. His receivers had a drop rate of 7.8 percent. That was second-highest among quarterbacks featured in PFF’s draft guide.
Both PFF and Dane Brugler of The Athletic knocked Lewerke for his decision-making skills.
Lewerke will battle with Smith for the Patriots’ No. 3 quarterback role. The Patriots are not guaranteed to keep a third quarterback on their roster during the season. If they don’t, then Smith or Lewerke could land on the practice squad.
