Indianapolis Colts

Colts rookie WR Alec Pierce delivering in clutch is no fluke

Updated Oct. 20, 2022 3:55 p.m. ET

By Ben Arthur
FOX Sports AFC South Writer

Mike Brown remembers the turning point for Alec Pierce.

It was a night practice — a red-zone session — halfway through Cincinnati's training camp last season, Pierce's senior year. That's when the Bearcats receivers coach started realizing how much Pierce had improved. He was doing things the team hadn't seen before, with his route creativity, body positioning and releases off the line of scrimmage. His confidence attacking the ball was sky high. He made "unbelievable" catches. There was a different look in his eyes.

Brown went over to offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli, then the passing game coordinator.

"I said, ‘Listen, when that dude gets like that during the season, I'm going to let you know,'" Brown told FOX Sports. "‘When that happens, we better throw him the ball. I don't care where you put him. He's going to catch it.'"

Six games into Pierce's NFL career, the Indianapolis Colts already have that kind of trust in him.

Last week, on an aggressive playcall in the closing seconds against the divisional-rival Jacksonville Jaguars, quarterback Matt Ryan hit the second-round rookie — facing single-man coverage on the sideline — on a go-route for the game-winning 32-yard touchdown. It was Pierce's first career score.

And the previous game, in an ugly Week 5 Thursday Night Football showdown in Denver against the Broncos, the Colts leaned on Pierce on the field-goal drive that forced overtime, with three catches (in a five-play span) for 33 yards.

He has delivered big for Indianapolis in big moments. It's earning him more reps, even as the team is trying not to put too much on him at one time, said offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.

"I thought he was going to be solid for us. I think he's probably exceeded the expectation," QB Ryan said Wednesday. "He's had a lot of production. Particularly late in games, in critical situations, he's had a lot of production. That's probably been the thing that maybe exceeds what I expected from him, but we're lucky to have him."

Pierce is fifth among NFL rookies entering Week 7 with 271 receiving yards, which is second-most in Colts history through a player's first five games with the franchise. Pierce's 18 receptions are also the third-most in Colts history through a player's first five appearances with the team.

Of the seven rookie receivers who've been targeted at least 25 times, Pierce is first in first downs per target (44.8%), tied for first in yards per target (9.3) and second in catch rate (62.1%), according to Pro Football Reference.

The 6-foot-3, 211-pound Pierce has looked like a legitimate No. 2 receiver alongside Michael Pittman Jr., forming the backbone of the Colts' promising core of young pass-catchers.

"I run a lot more routes here, a lot more stuff kind of in the short and intermediate game," Pierce said last week of his transition to the NFL. "It's definitely something I had to work on the most. I think I always had the vertical aspect of my game but … I've continued to work on just technique and routes and all that. Getting with the coaches, Reggie [Wayne], Pitt [Pittman], Parris [Campbell], Ashton (Dulin], all those guys kind of give you pointers and let you know what you got to do."

His instant impact in the NFL doesn't shock those at Cincinnati. That's because he had a confidence cultivated in working himself from a raw player at the start of his college career — as a true freshman in 2018, he briefly switched to linebacker ahead of the Military Bowl against Virginia Tech — into a WR1 who could trade jabs at practice daily with cornerback Sauce Gardner, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 draft already starring for the New York Jets.

Pierce wouldn't go up against anyone else. And Gardner wouldn't go against anyone else.

Ahead of the 2020 AAC Championship game, Cincinnati receiver Tre Tucker remembers the Bearcats' opponent, Tulsa, talking a lot of trash. Tulsa's players were saying Pierce wasn't that good, that he wasn't going to do much in the contest.

Teammates asked Pierce, "Did you see all this stuff?'

He laughed.

"I don't really worry about that stuff," Pierce said.

He had a career-high 146 receiving yards against Tulsa, including 126 yards in the first half, in the 27-24 Cincinnati victory.

"Going into that week, he just lit it up [at practice]," Tucker told FOX Sports. "Next thing you know, he lit it up at that game."

Against ninth-ranked Notre Dame his senior year, Pierce had six receptions for 144 yards. On the road at fifth-ranked Ohio State as a sophomore, he had four catches for 93 yards. Seven of his 10 best receiving games at Cincinnati came on the road. He played most of his best ball in college under the brightest lights facing the most pressure.

Brown, who played three seasons for the Jaguars, said Pierce carried himself like a professional at Cincinnati.

"He was always asking the next question," Brown said. "‘Hey, Coach, what is the quarterback reading here in zone read? How is the offensive line blocking?' He was always just diving deeper and deeper."

After Pierce's touchdown against the Jaguars, Tucker received a text from one of their former teammates, NFL free agent Michael Young Jr., who had a brief stint with the Colts: "A.P. doing A.P. things." Pierce's big play didn't surprise him. And it didn't surprise Tucker, either.

He could count many times during games or practice when the offense needed a big play — and Pierce was the one to make it.

"You kind of know, ‘Oh, OK, we've got Alec Pierce, man,'" Tucker said. "It's so easy to just throw it up and close your eyes, knowing he's going to come down with it."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.