Who Should I Start? Quintez Cephus or Maurice Alexander

Sunday, August 24, 8:45 AM

Houston Texans wide receiver Quintez Cephus finished the preseason on a high note, catching four of his seven targets for 51 yards and a touchdown against his former team, the Lions. Cephus' six-yard touchdown catch from Graham Mertz put the Texans ahead 16-7 just before halftime, and they went on to win 26-7. The Texans did not play starting quarterback C.J. Stroud or primary backup Davis Mills, but Cephus looked productive playing with rookie Graham Mertz. Cephus was a fifth-round pick of the Lions in 2020 and played three seasons in Detroit. He missed a season due to a suspension for violating the league's gambling policy and has since spent time with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Texans. He doesn't look likely to end up on the Texans' final roster, but he probably showed enough to get a look from another NFL team or at least end up on a practice squad somewhere.

Friday, January 31, 10:48 PM

The Chicago Bears signed free-agent wide receiver Maurice Alexander to a Reserve/Futures deal on Friday, according to KPRC's Aaron Wilson. New head coach Ben Johnson is poaching Alexander from the Detroit Lions after the 28-year-old spent the last three years in Detroit. The former undrafted free agent out of Florida International has only appeared in four NFL games, though, with all of them coming back in 2022. In his four games for the Lions, he caught his only target for a gain of seven yards. Alexander will head to Chicago with a firm grasp of Johnson's offensive concepts, although he will still be a long shot to make the 53-man active roster to begin the 2025 season out of training camp. He will most likely stick on Chicago's practice squad next season.