There are now only a day away from the NFL season getting fully underway. The Bearcats will have a ton of players who will be making their NFL debuts on Sundays and one of those players will be wide receiver Alec Pierce. Pierce is a sneaky candidate to have an amazing season and potentially see enough action to make it into the Rookie of the Year voting. Pierce like Ahmad Gardner was announced as a starter for Week 1. Pierce will be one of the starting wide receivers for the Indianapolis Colts. There is a ton of potential for the Colts to be a sneaky good playoff team especially when they have one of the best running backs in the NFL with Johnathan Taylor. But the real question is where will Pierce fit in for Indianapolis and how will they use Pierce to begin his NFL career?
The Colts started off their offseason by changing quarterbacks as they shipped off Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders and traded for former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan is a major upgrade for a Colts team that fell just short of the playoffs last year. The Colts will have a dynamic backfield of Johnathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines who will take a lot of workload on a very run-heavy offense. So where does that put Pierce? Pierce will line up with talented wide receiver Michael Pittman, Jr. and former Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Parris Campbell. The Colts also have tight end Mo Allie-Cox who will take some of the workloads from the receiving group. But with this group, there is a ton of potential to move people around and set up Pierce for a successful rookie campaign. The Colts coaching staff have raved on Pierce’s ability to go get the ball and his athletic ability in general. Wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne has had tons to say about Pierce as he commented on Pierce earlier in Colt’s camp, “It’s like going into Dillard’s or Macy’s to get that polo. Some polos come on the hanger, they’re nice and fresh already, some you’ve got to iron. He had to iron the creases out and now he’s comfortable.” With Pierce being on the outside he can work on the one area his coaching staff wanted him to work on which was finishing his route and excelling at his route running. He could also line up in the slot or come out of the backfield for jet sweep plays that can let him use his speed, go make plays for Matt Ryan who will sit in the pocket and kill defenses with his arm. In general, this could be a really fun year for Pierce who will get an opportunity to face Steven Nelson and Desmond King. These are two guys who have been in the NFL and could help Pierce in the long term.
Make sure you guys check out Pierce as he takes on the Texans on Sunday at 1 pm on CBS.
