Former UPS employee gaining national attention with the Lions
It wasn't supposed to be this hard. The Detroit Lions have five receivers that we know are more than likely going to make the main roster to start the season. That's Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, Marvin Jones, Josh Reynolds and Denzel Mims. Two receivers are now showing why the Lions should make it six […]
It wasn't supposed to be this hard. The Detroit Lions have five receivers that we know are more than likely going to make the main roster to start the season. That's Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, Marvin Jones, Josh Reynolds and Denzel Mims. Two receivers are now showing why the Lions should make it six receivers. Undrafted rookie Dylan Drummond and this man.
That's Maurice Alexander. You may recognize him. He was on the Lions roster during the preseason last year and showed some prowess in the return game. On Friday he showed it again with a 95 yard punt return touchdown.
Alexander is a really interesting story. He had four seasons at Florida International University and he never really had a position that entire time. He was the teams backup quarterback in 2016. He actually threw for 613 yards and two touchdowns. He unfortunately threw six interceptions as well. In 2018 he got switched to receiver and put up 40 receptions for 474 yards and 5 touchdowns. His senior he suffered a season ending injury.
Alexander participated in the NFL combine. He ran a 4.54 40 yard dash there. It's almost as if his speed didn't show up till later. Not that a 4.54 is super slow or anything. Alexander went undrafted and got a job at U.P.S. That was in 2019.
He didn't return to football until 2022 when the USFL started up. He had cut some weight and got faster and was drafted in the USFL Draft by the Philadelphia Stars. It was there that he showed what he could do in the return game.
The Lions brought him in for training camp and he wowed in the return game during the preseason, but was edged out by Justin Jackson. Alexander spent the year on and off of the Lions practice squad and the team signed him to a futures deal at the end of the year.
Now we're at where we're at. The Lions expected return man Justin Jackson surprisingly decided to retire before the Lions first preseason game of the year. The Lions are now in need a of a return man. How about the guy that took a return 95 yards to the house on Friday?
Alexander has a real chance to make it on this team. When you're fighting for a sixth receiver spot, you have to be able bring something to the special teams unit. Alexander can certainly do that. He's not alone though. Undrafted rookie Dylan Drummond has also been impressing throughout camp. It seems hard to believe that the team would bring in seven receivers, so one of them is going to have to make their way to the practice squad. There's still two weeks till final cutdown day and there's two more preseason games. Can Maurice Alexander go from UPS employee to a main roster on an NFL team? What a story it would be if he does.
Featured Image by Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports
