Quintez Cephus
Quintez Cephus (born April 1, 1998) is an American football wide receiver for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin.
| No. 87 – Detroit Lions | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | April 1, 1998 | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 208 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Stratford Academy (Macon, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 5 / Pick: 166 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
High school career
While playing high school football at Stratford Academy in Macon, Georgia, Cephus played running back, wide receiver and defense, earning a three-star recruiting grade.[1]
College career
Cephus committed to Wisconsin on November 13, 2015.[2] He also received offers from Miami, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Georgia Southern.[3] Cephus had also committed to Furman for basketball but decided to pursue football as a "business decision".[2]
During his sophomore season, Cephus caught thirty passes and had his first career collegiate 100-yard receiving game, against Purdue.[1] However, a broken leg, sustained against Indiana on November 4, sidelined Cephus for the rest of the season and required surgery.[4]
After missing his junior season due to pending legal charges, the NCAA cleared Cephus to play on August 23, 2019.[5] After being expelled and reinstated by the school, Cephus said he returned to the football team because unlike others at the school, the football team never stopped supporting him.[6] Cephus was noted for his ability to separate from defenders on the field of play during his senior season.[7]
On January 6, 2020, Cephus declared for the 2020 NFL Draft. The move came after Cephus led the 2019 Badgers team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.[8] He also participated in the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, where he drew praise from other players at the Combine.[9] He was drafted in the 5th round with the 166th pick by the Detroit Lions.
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 7⁄8 in (1.85 m) |
202 lb (92 kg) |
32 1⁄8 in (0.82 m) |
8 3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | 4.73 s | 4.33 s | 7.20 s | 38.5 in (0.98 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 23 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine | ||||||||||||
Cephus was selected at in the fifth round with the 166th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.[10] The Lions previously acquired the selection used on Cephus as a result of the trade that sent cornerback Darius Slay to the Philadelphia Eagles. On July 13, 2020, the Lions signed Cephus to a four-year contract.[11] In Week 13, against the Chicago Bears, he scored his first professional touchdown on a 49-yard reception from quarterback Matthew Stafford.[12]
Personal life
In the early morning hours of April 22, 2018, Cephus engaged in sexual acts with two women who had flirted with him at a bar the night before. Cephus claimed the acts were consensual, but the women claimed that they were too drunk to give consent legally and that Cephus sexually assaulted them.[13] Later that day, the Dane County Sherriff's Department searched Cephus' apartment, and in August, Cephus was suspended from the Badgers football team.[14] Also in August, Cephus was formally charged with second- and third-degree counts of sexual assault of an intoxicated victim.[15] On October 9, Cephus sued the University of Wisconsin-Madison in federal court, stating that the university's Title IX investigation, occurring simultaneously with the Dane County investigation, deprived Cephus of due process relating to the Fifth Amendment.[16] Also in October, Cephus entered into a not guilty plea, with a trial set for February, although that was later delayed to August.[17] During spring of 2019, Cephus left the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[18] It was later revealed that he was expelled by the school.[19] In March 2019, Cephus dropped his lawsuit against the university.[13] On August 2, Cephus was acquitted on both counts.[20] UW later re-admitted Cephus as a student before the 2019 fall semester, citing new information in their investigation.[13]
References
- Kirk, Otis (May 14, 2018). "PFF has Wisconsin wide receiver at top of one category". 247Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Polack, Nick (November 13, 2015). "Wisconsin football recruiting: Quintez Cephus commits to Badgers". Bucky's 5th Quarter. SBNation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- "Quintez Cephus Interests". 247Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Galloway, Jason (November 10, 2017). "Badgers football: Wisconsin's Quintez Cephus to miss rest of season after undergoing surgery on right leg". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- "NCAA clears Wisconsin WR Quintez Cephus to play". USA Today. August 23, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Potrykus, Jeff (August 19, 2019). "UW reinstates former wide receiver Quintez Cephus as a student". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gannett. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Morley, Jacob (March 14, 2020). "Draftmas Week 6: Quintez Cephus, Jabari Zuniga". Packer Report. 247Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Potrykus, Jeff (January 6, 2020). "UW wide receiver Quintez Cephus will skip his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL draft". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Gannett. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Kocorowski, Jake (February 28, 2020). "Quintez Cephus 2020 NFL Scouting Combine Results". AllBadgers. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Alter, Marlowe (April 25, 2020). "Detroit Lions take WR Quintez Cephus in NFL draft with pick from Darius Slay trade". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Schlitt, Erik (July 8, 2020). "Lions sign 5th-round WR Quintez Cephus". lionswire.com. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- "Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears - December 6th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- McCain, Michael (September 7, 2019). "After Re-Admitting Quintez Cephus, Wisconsin Could Face a Tough Legal Battle". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Goldberg, Rob (August 20, 2018). "Wisconsin WR Quintez Cephus Suspended After Being Charged with Sexual Assault". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Trelevan, Ed (August 21, 2018). "Wisconsin receiver Quintez Cephus charged with sex assaults of two women". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Trelevan, Gary (October 10, 2018). "Quintez Cephus sues UW, says disciplinary investigation violating his rights". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- "Trial for suspended Badgers football player facing sexual assault charges delayed". Channel 3000. February 11, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Galli, Tony (March 28, 2019). "Former Badger wide receiver Cephus leaves school". WKOW. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Potrykus, Jeff (August 19, 2019). "UW reinstates former wide receiver Quintez Cephus as a student". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Gannett. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- Wells, Adam (August 2, 2019). "Ex-Wisconsin WR Quintez Cephus Found Not Guilty of Alleged Sexual Assault". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 17, 2020.