He is listed as having a foot injury and was estimated as a non-participant on Wednesday when the team held a walkthrough instead of a full-on practice.
Earlier in the week, it was reported by James Boyd of The Athletic that Pierce was “good” after being seen getting his right ankle re-taped during Sunday’s game against Detroit–although Pierce is on the injury report with a foot injury.
Another injury tidbit: #Colts WR Alec Pierce, who got his right ankle looked at/re-taped on the sideline during yesterday’s loss, is “good,” per sources.
Pierce was walking gingerly in the locker room after the game, but there’s no reason to be overly concerned moving forward.
Perhaps the Colts are just being overly cautious and giving Pierce some additional rest in preparation for Sunday’s game in New England, but any time a player misses two days of practice, it is worth monitoring.
With Anthony Richardson at the helm, Pierce has been one of the NFL’s most productive downfield targets in football this season. Overall, he leads the team in receiving yards with 623 and is averaging a heft 23.3 yards per catch with four scores.
On deep balls specifically, Pierce ranks third in receptions of 20-plus yards and is second in yards on those targets.
The Colts may already be short-handed at the receiver position for this game. Josh Downs hasn’t been ruled out yet, but as Shane Steichen put it on Wednesday, him being available will be “tough.”
Ashton Dulin, who exited Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, has also not practiced the first two days of this week either.
Awaiting the Colts is a New England defense who ranks 12th in yards per rush allowed, but is 26th in yards per pass attempt surrendered.
Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver Alec Pierce provided the offense with another big spark in the fourth quarter against the Jaguars.
Down 34-20 in the fourth quarter, it began to feel like the Jacksonville Jaguars were about to close the Indianapolis Colts out at that point. However, as he’s done all season, Alec Pierce provided the offense with a massive spark.
Following a Jacksonville touchdown to put them up 34-20, Joe Flacco began the next drive with a 24 yard pass to Alec Pierce. Then on the very next play, the two connected for a 45 yard gain that put the Colts at the Jacksonville one-yard line. Trey Sermon would score on the next play.
Now down a touchdown, the Colts’ defense forced a three-and-out, giving the ball back to the offense. Following a 17-yard run by Sermon on the first play, Flacco again found Pierce for what ended up as a 65-yard catch and run touchdown to tie the game for the time being.
Pierce finished the game with only three receptions–all of which came on those two drives–for 134 yards and a score.
One of the head-scratching aspects of this game was that it took until those final five or so minutes in the fourth quarter with the Colts trailing by two touchdowns for them to push the ball downfield. For much of the game against a Jaguars’ secondary that ranked 30th in yards per pass attempt allowed coming into this game, it was a conservative approach for the Colts’ passing game.
Pierce came into this game as one of the more productive downfield targets in football this season with 234 receiving yards on just 10 receptions. That’s an average of 23.4 yards per catch.
Regardless of what the game-plan is, Pierce needs be targeted downfield a few times on a weekly basis.
Through three games, the Colts’ Alec Pierce has been one of the most productive receivers on downfield throws.
Three games in to the 2024 NFL season, and the Indianapolis Colts’ Alec Pierce has been one of the most productive downfield targets at the receiver position.
This element had always been a calling card for Pierce, but having a quarterback with Anthony Richardson’s arm talent has helped unlock that ability–not to mention what was an offseason and training camp performance that GM Chris Ballard said was the best he’s seen from Pierce.
Over these first three games, Pierce’s six targets of at least 20 yards are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. His three receptions on those targets are the most and his 161 yards on deep targets ranks second, according to PFF.
Pierce’s ability to come up with these big plays has been one of the few sparks for this Colts offense. In Week 1 against Houston, one of Pierce’s deep receptions ended as a touchdown and the other set up an eventual touchdown. Then against Chicago, Pierce’s 44 yard reception put the Colts in scoring position but they could not capitalize.
It’s been a very boom-or-bust start for the Colts passing game. This is a unit that ranks among the best in generating big plays, but they’ve struggled mightily to sustain drives because of the inconsistency on the short to intermediate routes.
Pierce, who wanted to showcase his versatility this season, has provided some help in those parts of the field as well, which included leading the team in receiving yards against Green Bay, despite not having a downfield catch.
Finding more stability in the passing game starts with Anthony Richardson being more accurate. Having Josh Downs back in the mix will certainly help, and more is needed from Michael Pittman, who has caught 57 percent of his targets at just 8.0 yards per catch.
While the big play potential is great, that can’t be an offense’s only avenue for moving the ball either. The passing game won’t find stability until there is improvement in those other areas of the field.
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce led the team in receiving yards for the second straight week.
For the second game in a row, Alec Pierce led the Indianapolis Colts in receiving yards in what ended up being a Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
In Week 1 against the Houston Texans, Pierce had three receptions for 125 yards with a touchdown. Two of those receptions went for more than 55 yards. This past Sunday in Green Bay, Pierce had seven targets (the most on the team), five receptions (the most on the team), and totaled 56 yards with another score.
One area where the Packers were more effective than the Texans was in taking away the Colts’ downfield pass attempts. Pierce’s longest reception was just 18 yards.
Pierce currently ranks sixth among all NFL receivers in receiving yards through two games. His early season production is a product of what had been a very strong training camp for him–one that GM Chris Ballard called his best to date.
Pierce had bulked up during the offseason, worked on his release packages to help create separation, and wanted to showcase his versatility and that he can impact all levels of the field and not only be a deep threat. Most importantly, he’s just been more consistent.
Overall, however, the Colts passing game is struggling to find any sort of steady presence. Outside of the three big plays in Week 1, the offense has struggled to sustain drives in the early going of the season.
Michael Pittman has had an up and down start, rookie AD Mitchell and Anthony Richardson just have not been on the same page, while the offense very much misses Josh Down’s presence in the slot.
Finding more consistency for the offense will require Pierce to continue on this trajectory, but the offense as a whole needs additional pass game production from elsewhere.
Two Colts players on offense were among the fastest ball carriers in Week 1 of the regular season.
Two of the fastest ball carriers in Week 1 of the regular season were members of the Indianapolis Colts, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. And of the six fastest plays, three belonged to the Colts.
Next Gen Stats is able to show the maximum speed in miles per hour (mph) that a player hits on a given play while carrying or going for the ball.
The fastest player in Week 1 was Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, who hit 21.89 mph. But right behind him was Alec Pierce on his 60-yard touchdown reception at 21.21 mph.
Then at No. 3 on the list was Anthony Gould, who reached 21.11 mph on his 26-yard kick-off return. Then, at No. 6, Pierce made another appearance, registering 20.95 mph on his 57-yard reception.
Pierce has always possessed that type of deep speed and helping that speed turn into production is quarterback Anthony Richardson who has the arm strength and talent to help maximize Pierce’s downfield abilities.
He finished the game with three receptions for 125 yards and one touchdown, currently ranking third in receiving yards following Week 1.
In addition to Richardson’s ability to get the ball downfield, Pierce put together what GM Chris Ballard called his best training camp to date.
In addition to the Colts offense having Pierce and Gould, don’t forget about AD Mitchell’s speed either. Mitchell ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process and will likely show up on these rankings at some point this season.
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce is near the top of the NFL’s receiving yards list following Week 1.
Indianapolis Colts third-year wide receiver Alec Pierce ranks among the best in receiving following an impressive Week 1 performance.
In the Colts’ loss to the Houston Texans, Pierce finished the game with three receptions, totaling 125 yards. Only the Green Bay Packers’ Jayden Reed, with 138 yards, and the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill, with 130 yards, had more.
Just about all of Pierce’s production came on two deep ball passes from Anthony Richardson. The first came on a 60 yard strike from Richardson that went for a touchdown. The second big play went for 57 yards and set up an eventual touchdown.
Not surprisingly with those numbers, Pierce also ranks second in downfield receiving yards (or receptions on passes of 20-plus yards), downfield receptions, and average yards per catch, according to PFF.
Pierce’s ability to make downfield plays has always been his calling card. However, consistency in those situations has been lacking during his first two NFL seasons.
The other obvious difference for the Colts’ passing game in this regard is having a quarterback with the arm talent that Richardson does, giving him the ability to find Pierce and put the ball where he can go and get it.
While the vertical presence may be what Pierce has best been known for up to this point in his career, he’s also worked hard this summer to showcase his versatility and that he can make an impact at all levels of the field.
Let’s examine and take a closer look at Anthony Richardson’s two deep touchdown passes from the Colts’ Week 1 matchup with the Texans.
A tough loss to a division opponent in Week 1. The Colts showed some nice things but, ultimately, were gassed on defense at the end of the game and weren’t able to stop the Texans from closing it out. That’s no shot at the Colts defense: they played 76 defensive snaps this past weekend, the most snaps any opposing defense faced in Week 1. On the other hand, the Colts offense ran 43 plays, the fewest of any offense in Week 1.
Let’s back up for a second and set the stage for this article. Every week, we’ll be digging into the Colts passing offense. We’ll kick things off with a high level look using stats (some standard, some advanced), then dig into a play or two. Sometimes it’ll be a big play. Sometimes it’ll just be a fun play.
We’ll start out by looking at his passing chart (from NFL Next Gen Stats), so let’s get rolling.
He broke it. Anthony Richardson broke the chart. This chart goes up to +50 air yards, and Richardson beat that mark while falling backwards, surrounded by enemies. Truly an insane feat. According to Ben Baldwin’s RBSDM, Richardson had an ADOT (Average Depth of Target) of 16.4. In 2023, among QBs who accounted for at least 20% of their teams passing attempts, Will Levis led the league with an ADOT of 11.1. And Levis only has two modes: drinking mayo and hucking the ball (and he’s all out of mayo).
In his limited time last year, Richardson had an ADOT of 8.0. So 16.4 is a wild number, but it’s also not something I expect to see every week. Or maybe we will! I’m excited to find out.
Everything else is within 20 yards (although this chart does seem to be missing the deep throw to Pierce in the 4th quarter). It’s also pretty evenly distributed. Targeted the left side of the field more than the right, but not by much.
Given some of the throws he missed, I expected his CPOE (Completion Percentage Over Expected) to be lower than the -4.3% mark we’re seeing here. Obviously negative isn’t great – and his 47.4% completion on the day doesn’t exactly inspire confidence – but a small negative number like that speaks to the difficulty of some of the throws Richardson was attempting this week.
When Richardson did drop back to pass, he did so with a heavy play action game to work off of. The Colts used play action on 45.8% of Richardson’s dropbacks (per NFL Pro), the 2nd highest mark of the week (the highest was Justin Fields’ eye-popping 53.6% play action rate). The highest user of play action in 2023 was Kirk Cousins at 31.1%, so I don’t expect that 45.8% to stick, but it’s always worth pointing out outliers early and seeing if it’s a one-off approach, or if that’s a new trend to pay attention to throughout the season.
Alright, that’s enough numbers for now. Let’s look at a play.
You know what? It’s Week 1. Let’s look at two plays; the touchdown passes. Mostly because the bomb to Pierce is fun, but not a lot to unpack. So let’s start there.
Play 1: 1st & 10, 5:20 remaining in the 1st quarter
Colts are in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) in a tight formation. The Texans respond with a 4-3 look. One safety is in the box early, but backs out to a pinched two-high look before the ball is snapped.
The Colts run a two-man concept with max protect up front. Ashton Dulin [16] pushes vertically to the middle of the field, drawing the two deep defenders on his side. At 15 yards, Dulin plants and cuts to the sideline, drawing the defenders with him and holding them to that intermediate area.
Meanwhile, Alex Pierce [14] is running a deep post. Although, based on what we’re seeing here, it may just be called the “I’m faster than you” route. Pierce pushes vertically up the field, gives a little fake to the outside, then cuts to the post, splitting the two defenders over him.
Richardson lays this it up over the top with perfect placement on a ball that traveled 70 yards in the air.
Absurd.
Play 2: 1st & 10, 12:22 remaining in the 4th quarter
Once again, the Colts are in 12 personnel in a tight formation. Texans are showing a 4-3 look with a Quarters look on the back end. The Colts initially align with Dulin as the lone receiver on the left and Adonai Mitchell [10] as the lone receiver on the right, but Dulin motions to the right pre-snap.
The Colts are running a Dagger concept off motion, with Mitchell running the vertical clear-out route and Dulin running a deep in-cutter underneath.
The play action doesn’t influence the linebackers, who drop deep to take away the middle of the field. Jonathan Taylor [28] releasing to the flat removes one of those linebackers from falling under Dulin, but the man in the middle rallies to try to take it away.
However, Richardson rips this throw just past his outstretched hands. With the deep safety running with Mitchell, Dulin finds himself with a really nice lane to speed through. He erases the angle at the end and uses a stiff-arm to find his way to glory.
An absolute dart from Richardson and a great play from Dulin ends with a 54 yard touchdown.
Albums listened to: The Heavy Heavy – One of a Kind; Hinds – VIVA Hinds; Hazel English – Real Life
Isaiah Likely is the top waiver wire target in fantasy football this week. These players are also worth consideration.
The first week of the 2024 NFL season is in the books and it’s now time to hit the waiver wire in your fantasy football leagues.
To help you win the waiver wire, we’ve put together a list of 15 players to target this week, including options at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, defense and even kicker. Each player’s roster percentage in ESPN fantasy football leagues is listed in parentheses.
Note that these players are listed by position and ranked by their roster percentage, and that does not necessarily reflect the order in which they should be claimed this week. For example, tight end Isaiah Likely should be a top priority ahead of Week 2.
Now, let’s get to the list!
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Week 2
1. QB Baker Mayfield (34%): Don’t expect four touchdowns every week, but Mayfield is a serviceable fill-in if you need help at quarterback.
2. RB Jaleel McLaughlin (45%): He led the Broncos in carries (10) and also had five targets as a receiver out of the backfield. McLaughlin’s production (32 yards) was poor, but his utilization is promising.
3. RB Rico Dowdle (40%): He had two fewer carries (8) than Ezekiel Elliott (10) and one fewer target (1). It’s early, but Dowdle’s worth stashing.
4. RB Bucky Irving (21%): He led the Buccaneers with 62 rushing yards despite getting six fewer carries (9) than Rachaad White (15). Irving also got three targets as a receiver out of the backfield.
5. RB Tank Bigsby (5%): Travis Etienne remains the Jaguars’ top running back, but Bigsby received the same amount of carries (12) and ended up leading the team with 73 rushing yards.
6. WR Rashid Shaheed (42%): He turned five targets into three receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.
7. WR Wan’Dale Robinson (7%): The Giants look like a team that will have to throw often while trailing and Robinson was Daniel Jones’ favorite receiver on Sunday with six catches for 44 yards on 12 targets.
8. WR Greg Dortch (2%): He had a team-high eight targets on Sunday and led the Cardinals with six catches for 47 yards.
9. WR Devaughn Vele (1%): He tied for second on the team with eight targets. Vele hauled in all eight targets and while his yardage total (39) underwhelmed, he will be a serviceable PPR receiver if those targets continue.
10. WR Alec Pierce (1%): He’s a boom-or-bust WR who turned three targets into three catches for 125 yards and a touchdown in Week 1.
11. TE Taysom Hill (46%): With several tight ends injured and other TEs underperforming, Hill turned in a top-12 performance on Sunday, and it was a quiet day (five carries for 35 yards and one catch for one yard). He is a boom-or-bust prospect, but Hill is a good fill-in option if you need a TE.
12. TE Isaiah Likely (10%): Likely is the fantasy football waiver wire target of the week after hauling in nine receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown on 12 targets in Week 1. There’s no guarantee he will have better utilization than Mark Andrews (2 targets) on a week-to-week basis, but Likely is a must-add in case this trend continues.
13. TE Tucker Kraft (4%): Kraft played 94% of Green Bay’s offensive snaps in Brazil, a sign that he’s the new TE1 over Luke Musgrave (25%). That only led to two catches for 37 yards on three targets in Week 1, but Kraft emerging as a starter is notable for TE-needy managers in deep leagues.
14. DST Los Angeles Chargers (11%): After a strong showing in Week 1, the Chargers now get a great matchup against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2.
15. K Chris Boswell (4%): Whether it’s Justin Fields or Russell Wilson under center, Pittsburgh’s offense seems to be good enough to move the ball but not quite good enough to score many touchdowns. That’s good news for Boswell’s fantasy football stack. He made six field goals on Sunday.
Colts’ third-year wide receiver Alec Pierce put together what GM Chris Ballard would call his “best camp.”
Sparked by consistency, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce put together what general manager Chris Ballard would call his best training camp to date and was one of the better overall performers on this team.
“I think Alec has just had his best camp–arguably as good as anybody out there,” said Ballard last Wednesday. “Consistent–shows he can play inside and out.”
With the addition of AD Mitchell in the second round of this year’s draft, Pierce faced some uncertainty when it came to playing time and his role on this team, with the X receiver position opposite of Michael Pittman up for grabs this summer.
During his first two season with the team, Pierce was frequently utilized as a vertical presence. In 2023, he had the seventh-highest average depth of target among all receivers, with nearly 30 percent of his total targets coming 20-plus yards downfield, which ranked as the 14th-most.
Pierce would end up catching only 32 of his 63 targets for 514 yards and two scores. While, naturally, a receiver’s completion percentage will be lower on downfield attempts, the Colts needed more consistency at a position in Shane Steichen’s offense that plays an important role.
“He was – I mean he always brings it to practice every single day,” said offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. “He is as consistent as they come. His work ethic, his work habits, his pre-practice habits, just the way he prepares himself to have a shot at having some success during that practice when those opportunities go up.”
We will see what the Colts’ Week 1 depth chart will look like, and whether it is Pierce or Mitchell who is starting, but from the sounds of it, Pierce provided the more steady presence throughout training camp.
Given Pierce’s experience in the NFL and in Steichen’s offense, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the term “starter” when discussing Pierce and Mitchell probably doesn’t carry as much weight as it might at other positions. Both players are going to have roles this season and both will be expected to make an impact in their own ways.
“AD is kind of what we thought he was,” added Ballard. “I mean, he’s a very talented, young player. He’s still learning, but they’re both going to have really good years and help us.”
With the emergence of Pierce and the addition of Mitchell, along with Josh Downs seemingly poised for a Year 2 jump and Michael Pittman an always consistent presence, the Colts like what they have at the receiver position heading into the 2024 season, which will help take some of the playmaking burden off of Anthony Richardson’s plate.
“That’s a really good room,” Ballard said. “That’s a good group. Reggie’s (Wayne) done tremendous, tremendous work.”
Consistency was the catalyst this summer behind a strong training camp performance from Colts’ wide receiver Alec Pierce.
Indianapolis Colts’ third-year wide receiver Alec Pierce put together an overall strong training camp and preseason performance, and the catalyst behind all of that was day-to-day consistency–a point of emphasis for him.
“I think I’ve had a good training camp,” Pierce said via Colts.com. “I’ve tried to be working on my consistency, basically to kind of bring up the level of the bad days — like never truly have a day where it was like, ‘ah, he wasn’t great today.’
In his first two NFL seasons, Pierce has been frequently utilized as the Colts’ downfield threat. Last season, Pierce’s average depth of target was 15.7 yards, which was the seventh-most among his position group.
On top of that, nearly 30 percent of Pierce’s targets came 20 or more yards downfield, and that ranked 14th.
However, in addition to needing to be more consistent on those downfield targets, Pierce also wanted to showcase his versatility this summer. Specifically that he could make plays at all levels of the field.
“For sure, I think there’s a lot more to my game,” Pierce said during OTAs. “I just want to have the chance to showcase that and I’m just working every day in practice to earn those reps and show what I can do.”
The Colts’ final preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals gave us a glimpse into the progress Pierce had made in that regard. He finished the game with two receptions, totaling 31 yards.
The first catch came on a crossing route for 18 yards where he was able to create separation. The second completion came on a quick pass from Anthony Richardson, with Pierce picking up 13 yards on a third-and-10.
We often hear about a Year 2 developmental leap for NFL players. And while Pierce is entering Year 3, this is his second in Shane Steichen’s offense and he seems to be benefitting from the continuity and comfort of knowing the system.
With the addition of AD Mitchell in this past April’s draft, Pierce found himself competing for playing time at the X receiver position opposite of Michael Pittman.
Ultimately, someone is going to be named a “starter,” but both Pierce and Mitchell are going to see their share of snaps this season. Mitchell’s combination of explosiveness and route running bring a different element to the Colts’ offense, but Pierce has shown that he can still play a key role as well.
“He was – I mean he always brings it to practice every single day,” said Jim Bob Cooter. “He is as consistent as they come. His work ethic, his work habits, his pre-practice habits, just the way he prepares himself to have a shot at having some success during that practice when those opportunities go up.”
