The Colts offense is abysmal, but one bright spot over the past few weeks has been rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce. The Cincinnati product caught 8-of-9 targets for 81 yards in Indianapolis’ Thursday Night Football win over Denver.
Does Pierce have some steam entering Week 6 and beyond? Our expert fantasy football analysts discuss his prospects below.
Sean Koerner: The talented rookie has come on of late, posting three solid games in a row (3/61/0, 4/80/0 and 8/81/0).
Pierce has established himself as Matt Ryan’s No. 2 target, but that comes with limited upside as the veteran QB hasn’t been capable of providing Pierce with downfield targets (with only three of 20-plus yards on the season).
I view Pierce as a WR4 who should provide spike weeks going forward, but he will likely need Michael Pittman to miss time in order to provide consistent WR3 value. Either way, I’m a fan of stashing talented rookie WRs if you can afford the bench space.
Chris Raybon: Pierce is a WR4 with WR3 upside going forward. He ran a route on a season-high 75% of dropbacks last week and is being targeted on 20.2% of his routes — slightly higher than Pittman (19.9%).
I wouldn’t rush to start him in Week 6 because Jackonville has been stingy against opposing WRs, allowing the third-fewest receptions (9.8) and eighth-fewest receiving yards (137.0) per game.
Mike Triplett: I want to be high on Pierce because I love his game and his opportunity to be a clear WR2 in Indianapolis’ offense as both a downfield threat and a reliable big-bodied target.
But this passing game has been such a disappointment that we can’t even count on Pittman for consistent production, and there doesn’t appear to be any immediate hope the offensive line will get better.
I like Pierce better in dynasty or keeper leagues — or if you have room to stash him on your bench for later this season. If you need a Week 6 fill-in, you should probably go with someone like Michael Gallup, Rondale Moore or Jakobi Meyers instead.
