FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they have pitched nine players: DB Malik Gant, WR Will Hastings, QB Brian Lewerke, DB Adarius Pickett, WR Sean Riley, QB J’Mar Smith, LB Kyahva Tezino (key-AH-va tuh-ZEENO) , DL Courtney Wallace and WR Isaiah Zuber. Hastings, Lewerke, Riley, Smith, Tezino, Wallace and Zuber were signed by New England as rookie free agents on May 5, 2020.
Gant, 23, was signed by New England as a rookie free agent to Marshall on May 2, 2019. The 6-foot-3-inch, 203-pound pitcher spent the 2019 season on the disabled reserve list. He played in 37 games during his college career and totaled 201 tackles, two interceptions and 13 passes defended.
Hastings, 23, played in 42 games during his college career at Auburn and finished with 56 catches for 845 yards and six touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 174-pound player played in 13 games and caught 19 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown in 2019.
Lewerke, 23, started for three years at Michigan State and finished first in the school’s history in total offense with 9,548 yards (8,293 passes and 1,255 rushing runs). The 6-foot-3, 216-pound player also finished his career third in school history in starts (38) and wins (22).
Pickett, 23, signed with the Patriots practice team on December 11, 2019. The 5-foot-11-inch, 198-pound breaker originally signed with the Chicago Bears as a rookie free agent for UCLA in 2019. He went to Training with the Los Angeles Chargers and they had a season on their practice squad before joining the Patriots’ practice squad.
RileyThe 22-year-old played in 49 games at Syracuse and finished with 119 catches for 1,265 yards with four touchdowns, returned 115 kickoffs for 2,433 yards and 50 punt returns for 563 yards and one touchdown. The 5-foot-8, 178-pound player finished third on Syracuse’s all-time list with 4,358 all-purpose yards and set the school record for most kickoff return yards (2,433).
blacksmith, 23, ended his career with 759 completions in 1,280 pass attempts for 9,523 yards with 51 touchdowns and 21 interceptions at Louisiana Tech. The 6-foot-1, 218-pound completed 236 of 367 passes for 2,977 yards with 18 touchdowns as a senior.
Tezino, 23, he finished his college career in the state of San Diego in 11th place in the school’s history in total tackles (290). The 6-foot-235 pound played in 48 games with 31 starts for the Aztecs and totaled 15½ sacks, two interceptions, five passes protected and two forced fumbles.
Wallace, 23, played in 48 games during his college career at Louisiana Tech and finished with 54 tackles, 3½ sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a defended pass. The 6-foot-2, 305-pound player played in 13 games as a senior and finished with 41 total tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a defended pass.
Zuber, 23, he played three seasons in the state of Kansas before spending his last college season in the state of Mississippi. The 6-foot, 190-pound left Kansas State with 127 career catches for 1,321 yards and 11 touchdown catches, both top 10 marks for the school. In his senior year, he played in 13 games with three starts and caught 14 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
