Getty Head coach Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts have seen one of their rookies excel over the last few weeks.
It’s dangerous to judge a draft pick after just a couple games in the NFL. Indianapolis Colts rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce has been proving that fact over the last few weeks.
After a debut to forget and sitting out Week 2 because of a concussion, Pierce has strung together 3 performances where he was one of Indianapolis’ best players on offense. On October 6, he led the Colts with 8 catches and 81 yards to help the team overcome a plethora of offensive issues to capture a 12-9 overtime victory against the Denver Broncos.
The Colts drafted Pierce to stretch defenses. During three college seasons at Cincinnati, he averaged 17.5 yards per catch.
While he’s growing into Indianapolis’ best deep threat, Pierce is also rounding out the rest of his game, and threatening to give the Colts a true 1-2 wide receiver punch in the near future.
Pierce Ranked Among Best Rookie Wide Receivers in NFL
Pierce dropped a touchdown pass and took an illegal hit to the head on another play in Week 1. Then he didn’t play in Week 2 because of a concussion.
But even in today’s NFL, where each draft class is seemingly filled with more and more elite talent at wide receiver, it sometimes takes a few weeks of regular season action for rookie wideouts to make an impact.
Now a few weeks into 2022, that’s a reality for Pierce.
The 22-year-old has recorded at least 3 catches and 60 receiving yards in each of the last 3 weeks. He has 4 receptions or more and at least 80 yards in the past 2 contests, including the team-leading 8 catches and 81-yard night versus the Broncos.
Heading into Week 5, Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon ranked Pierce the No. 5 rookie wide receiver in the league.
“Whether the Indianapolis Colts can recover from a rough start is a fair question, but Pierce should be a top contributor along the way,” wrote Kenyon.
The only rookie receivers Kenyon ranked ahead of Pierce were Drake London, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jahan Dotson. Not only were all 4 of those wideouts drafted in the first round, all of them were selected in the first half of the first round.
The Colts drafted Pierce at No. 53 overall, which was after the midway point in the second round.
Pierce Becoming Reliable Target in Colts Offense
One Colts insider that’s been particularly impressed with Pierce lately is Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star. Erickson wrote an article detailing about how Pierce has become not only a deep threat but reliable target in the Colts offense.
With the game on the line after the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter and the Colts trailing by 3 in Week 5, Ryan targeted Pierce 3 times. The rookie caught all 3 of those targets for 33 yards, as Indianapolis drove for the game-tying field goal.
In Weeks 3 and 4, Pierce led Colts pass catchers (with at least 2 receptions) in yards per catch. But in Week 5, Pierce played more of a role as a possession receiver, leading the team in catches and yards.
“[Pierce was] one of the few bright spots on an abysmal night for the Indianapolis offense,” wrote Erickson.
“The rookie was so physical, so dominant that [Michael] Pittman Jr. said later that it felt like Pierce had gone for 130 yards.”
In the long term, the Colts would probably like Pierce to be more of a deep threat than possession receiver. The offense desperately needs more big plays.
But with the way the offensive line is playing, Ryan doesn’t have time to wait for Pierce to get open down field. So Pierce’s ability to contribute as a receiver in multiple ways is very useful.