How to Treat Colts WR Alec Pierce as Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Target

The Colts offense is abysmal, but one bright spot over the past few weeks has been rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce. The Cincinnati product caught 8-of-9 targets for 81 yards in Indianapolis’ Thursday Night Football win over Denver.

Does Pierce have some steam entering Week 6 and beyond? Our expert fantasy football analysts discuss his prospects below.

Sean Koerner: The talented rookie has come on of late, posting three solid games in a row (3/61/0, 4/80/0 and 8/81/0).

Pierce has established himself as Matt Ryan’s No. 2 target, but that comes with limited upside as the veteran QB hasn’t been capable of providing Pierce with downfield targets (with only three of 20-plus yards on the season).

I view Pierce as a WR4 who should provide spike weeks going forward, but he will likely need Michael Pittman to miss time in order to provide consistent WR3 value. Either way, I’m a fan of stashing talented rookie WRs if you can afford the bench space.

Chris Raybon: Pierce is a WR4 with WR3 upside going forward. He ran a route on a season-high 75% of dropbacks last week and is being targeted on 20.2% of his routes — slightly higher than Pittman (19.9%).

I wouldn’t rush to start him in Week 6 because Jackonville has been stingy against opposing WRs, allowing the third-fewest receptions (9.8) and eighth-fewest receiving yards (137.0) per game.

Mike Triplett: I want to be high on Pierce because I love his game and his opportunity to be a clear WR2 in Indianapolis’ offense as both a downfield threat and a reliable big-bodied target.

But this passing game has been such a disappointment that we can’t even count on Pittman for consistent production, and there doesn’t appear to be any immediate hope the offensive line will get better.

I like Pierce better in dynasty or keeper leagues — or if you have room to stash him on your bench for later this season. If you need a Week 6 fill-in, you should probably go with someone like Michael Gallup, Rondale Moore or Jakobi Meyers instead.