There were concerns about Alec Pierce being ready for the start of the season this summer, but after returning to training camp a few weeks ago, Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen told the media Monday that Pierce will play in Sunday’s season opener vs. the Ravens.
Following ankle surgery in March, Pierce was placed on the PUP list to begin training camp. However, he was activated off the PUP list on August 27th and logged his first full practice on September 3rd.
Pierce has looked like himself at training camp and will play Sunday, but what type of workload should we expect for the receiver?
Alec Pierce’s Week 1 Outlook
Pierce is on the heels of a career-best season. The wideout caught 47 passes for 1,003 yards – both of which were career highs – and six touchdowns in 15 games.
Pierce was especially strong to finish this campaign, scoring 15+ FPTS in five of his last 10, most notably with a 32.2-FPTS showing vs. the Texans in the regular-season finale. In that tilt, Pierce caught 4-of-7 targets for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
Pierce handled a 17.7% target share and ranked first in aDOT (20.0) among the players who saw 50+ targets last season. Despite missing two games, Pierce finished second in targets over 20 yards (28).
The 26-year-old is one of the best deep threats in the NFL. After all these positive updates on Pierce the last few weeks, all signs are pointing towards him seeing no limitations vs. the Ravens.
The Colts’ coaching staff may try to give Pierce a few plays off here and there, but he should still run a route on most of Daniel Jones’ dropbacks. As 3.5-point underdogs on DraftKings Sportsbook, Indianapolis is likely to be forced to air it out. The Ravens had major issues slowing down receivers last season, giving up the second-most catches (220) and yards (2,849) to the position.
This is an optimal setup for Pierce and he is a strong GPP target for Sunday’s main slate on DraftKings at $5,700, as many may avoid him coming off the injury. Pierce’s receiving line of 47.5 yards on DraftKings Sportsbook also feels too low, so backing him over this number is a smart call. Last season, Pierce averaged 66.9 yards per game and cleared 47.5 receiving yards in 11-of-15 games.
