The Indianapolis Colts made the most of their trip to Germany this past weekend, emerging with a 31-25 overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons. Jonathan Taylor did most of the dirty work with 286 total yards and three touchdowns, but the Colts’ passing game was effective as well. Along the way, Alec Pierce found the end zone for the first time this season.
Pierce is rostered in 36.5% of ESPN leagues and 42% of Yahoo leagues, so he is still up for grabs in the majority of leagues. And with the Colts going on bye for Week 11, plenty of fantasy owners could overlook him on the waiver wire. He is certainly worth a claim despite the upcoming idle week, with the only remaining questions surrounding his viability as a potential WR1.
Alec Pierce Fantasy Value
Through 10 weeks, Pierce is WR37 in fantasy. He scored 4.6 PPR fantasy points in Week 1, then put up 10.8 in Week 2 and 10.7 in Week 3. The fourth-year receiver suffered a concussion on September 21, however, interrupting his emergence before it could really get underway. When Pierce returned to action in Week 6, he posted 6.8 PPR fantasy points.
Pierce has been surging ever since, though. He is averaging 14.9 PPR fantasy points per game since Week 7, clearing 8.9 in all four of those games. He scored a season-high 17.5 PPR fantasy points in Week 9, then one-upped that with 18.4 in Week 10. On average, Pierce has finished as WR23 in that span.
On the whole this season, Pierce leads the Colts with 585 receiving yards – despite having almost half as many catches as teammate Michael Pittman Jr. Pierce’s 20.31-yard average depth of target ranks second in the NFL among receivers with more than 80 routes. Pittman and Josh Downs – Indianapolis’ only other rostered wideouts with more than 60 routes on the year – have ADOTs of 8.37 yards and 6.60 yards. Daniel Jones has the sixth-most pass attempts with at least 30 air yards and is tied for the most pass attempts of at least 40 air yards. Pierce has been the beneficiary of that tendency, which can be partially attributed to Taylor’s dominance on the ground.
Indianapolis Colts Depth Chart
Through the first few months of 2025, Pittman has been far and away the Colts’ top receiver. He has 70 targets, 54 receptions and six touchdowns, all of which rank No. 1 on the Colts. Even though he garnered just two targets and 19 yards in Week 10 – a few weeks after his three targets and 20 yards versus the Cardinals – Pittman is still WR8 with 15.0 PPR fantasy points per game.
Downs, meanwhile, has dealt with a concussion of his own this season, plus lingering ankle and hip injuries. He missed Week 7 with a concussion, but still has 36 receptions, 316 yards and three touchdowns on 48 targets this season. All that production has Downs slotted in at WR43 in fantasy. Pierce has seemingly overtaken Downs as the Colts’ No. 2 receiver, with the former averaging 8.8 targets per game over the past four weeks and the latter averaging just 4.7. Pierce is also seeing the field on 83.3% of offensive snaps, compared to Downs’ 55.3% mark. Taking things one step further, Pierce got 94.8% of snaps in Week 10, while Pittman could only muster up an 80.5% snap share.
Adonai Mitchell is now out of the picture, with Indianapolis trading him to the Jets at the deadline, making Ashton Dulin the next receiver in the rotation. He has yet to show much fantasy relevance since joining the Colts in 2019, however.
Rookie tight end Tyler Warren is also a major piece of the Colts’ offense. His 67 targets, 50 receptions and three touchdowns all rank second on the team, not to mention his dynamism as a slot receiver, fullback and wildcat quarterback. Warren’s 21.34% target share is the third-highest among all NFL tight ends, with only Trey McBride and Brock Bowers outpacing him in that category.
Is Alec Pierce a must-start for the rest of 2025?
Given that he has emerged as a pretty dependable top-25 receiver in recent weeks, Pierce should be starting at FLEX in most leagues. Tough matchups with the Chiefs and Texans in Week 12 and 13 make him less reliable immediately after the Colts’ bye, but two games against the Jaguars and one against the 49ers could give Pierce enough opportunities to prove himself as a true league-winner. Admittedly, it isn’t particularly encouraging that Pierce hasn’t drawn a red zone target since Week 1. And yet, Pierce is a constant deep touchdown threat who can turn a fantasy matchup on its head with one play. He is cutting more and more into Pittman’s reps, asserting himself as option 1B instead of a WR2.
Add Pierce if he is still a free agent in your league. And even if he isn’t, try swinging a trade for the 25-year-old. It might not take much to pry away WR37 who, in all likelihood, has been stashed on someone’s bench for a while.
