Michael Pittman Jr. has been dealing with a back injury since Week 2’s contest against the Packers. There’s been no mention of when the injury occurred or the severity of it, but Pittman Jr. has been able to play through it, participating in 84%, 88% and 89% of the snaps over the last three weeks.
Unfortunately, on the Wednesday prior to Week 6’s contest against the Titans, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Pittman Jr. is expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks, with a stint on the injured reserve a possibility.
To make matters worse for the Colts, WR Josh Downs is also dealing with a toe issue while QB Anthony Richardson has an oblique issue. Richardson could play after missing Week 5’s contest, but that may not be ideal for any of the wide receivers, as Joe Flacco has been a much better distributor of the football.
With Pittman Jr. out and Downs banged up, Alec Pierce becomes the defacto number one option.
Pierce is a size/speed freak, measuring in at 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds with a 4.41 40 and 94th percentile burst score. These are the reasons he was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft.
During the first two years of his career, he was primarily utilized to occupy deep safeties and open things up underneath. He caught 41 of 78 targets for 593 yards and two touchdowns during his rookie season and followed that up with 32 receptions on 65 targets for 514 yards and two touchdowns. The yards per reception were 14.5 and 16.1.
So far this season, Pierce has hauled in 13 of 17 targets for 368 yards and three touchdowns. The yards per reception is a whopping 28.3. Three of those targets were within 10 yards, and he caught all of them. Pierce has received five targets within 10 to 20 yards and caught four of the five, with one of those a touchdown. The rest have been all over 20 yards with four targets over 40 yards, resulting in three catches and one touchdown.
So, is he a must-start in Week 6?
I don’t think so. While Pierce is an athletic freak, his agility score is only in the 41st percentile. He’s never been known as a prolific route runner. Now he’s going to be thrust into the number one role, but I have doubts that he’s suited for that role, especially now that the defensive focus will be on him.
The matchup isn’t a good one, either. The Titans’ pass defense has allowed the lowest success rate on the season so far while posting the 10th-best Pass EPA.
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