Known for his contributions to the Indianapolis Colts offense as a blocker, tight end Mo Alie-Cox has come through on a few occasions this season with big plays in the passing game.
Filling the more traditional Y-tight end role where the focus is on blocking, Alie-Cox isn’t getting regular opportunities in the passing game. In fact, out of 46 eligible tight ends, Alie-Cox ranks 38th in targets with only 10–again, not a surprise.
But perhaps what is a bit surprising are the plays he’s generating when the ball comes in his direction. On just seven receptions, Alie-Cox already has 100 receiving yards.
For some context, that’s an average of 14.3 yards per catch, which is nearly two full yards more than his career average, and that figure is the fourth-most among tight ends through Week 6 of the NFL season. This includes three receptions of at least 19 yards.
Detroit’s Sam LaPorta and Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts are two of the tight ends ahead of Alie-Cox in yards per catch, which isn’t necessarily the company one would expect hi to keep.
Helping Alie-Cox see these early results is Shane Steichen’s play-calling. With much of the attention that Alie-Cox draws from opposing defenses focused on how he’s impacting the play as a blocker, Steichen has found some opportunities to get Alie-Cox in space, where the Colts’ quarterbacks have been able to find him.
On average, Alie-Cox is being targeted 10.4 yards downfield, which ranks as the 12th-most among tight ends. That coupled with him picking up on average almost six yards after the catch and the utilization of Alie-Cox within the offense is putting him in a position to generate some chunk yardage gains.
While impacting the passing game, especially as a big play threat, is never going to be Alie-Cox’s calling card, the fact that he’s now making some plays in that regard along with still being an effective blocker, does give Steichen some added flexibility from a play-calling perspective because Alie-Cox can wear a few different hats when needed, helping to exploit certain matchups.