Alec Pierce

Pierce flashed big-play potential as a rookie but was crushed by the Colts' low-adot passing attack under backup Gardner Minshew last year. His numbers fell across the board and the Colts spent a second-round pick on Adonai Mitchell to compete with him for the No. 3 role. Pierce left nothing to chance and hit the ground running with 125 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Though his production, coming almost entirely from deep shots, was never predictable, it persisted throughout the year and across multiple starting quarterbacks. Pierce hit triple-digits three times en route to a 37/824/7 receiving line. The yardage and touchdown totals were easily career-highs. Pierce also led the NFL in yards per catch at 22.3. While it's hard to recommend such a volatile player for redraft purposes, Pierce has a profile that early best ball drafters will fawn over in the final rounds.

The second-round rookie entered the league with plenty of red flags both on and off the field. He started coming to life late in training camp and even played an elevated role in the first two games while Josh Downs nursed an injury. Despite running plenty of routes, Mitchell never made much of his opportunities early in the year or at any point. He topped 38 yards once and caught more than two passes twice. Mitchell struggled with drops en route to a dreadful 5.7 yards per target. He finished the year with 23 catches for 312 scoreless yards. With Alec Pierce breaking out as the team's primary deep threat, Mitchell may be stuck in a rotational role in his second season.

The Colts scored in three plays on their opening drive, cluminating with a 40-yard TD pass by Pierce.

Joe Flacco found Alec Pierce for a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Indianapolis Colts a 7-0 lead against the Jacksonville Jaguars.