AlecPierce

News: 3 days agoWhen asked Wednesday whether Pierce (heel) has a chance to return from IR this season, Colts head coach Shane Steichen was noncommittal, James Boyd of The Athletic reports.

Spin: "We'll see. Like I said last week, he's still in that rehab process, and I'm not going to put a timetable on return," Steichen noted of the wideout, who's been on IR since Sept. 26. At 2-7, the Colts were sellers ahead of the NFL's trade deadline, so the team presumably has no reason rush Pierce back. With Keenan Allen and Josh Downs no longer in the mix, Indy's healthy WRs for now are Ashton Dulin, Laquon Treadwell, Anthony Gould, Deion Burks and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Pierce has spent the majority of his first four NFL seasons as a situational deep threat, but that didn't stop him from becoming one of the league's highest-paid wide receivers during the offseason. The 2022 second-round pick is fresh off a career year and he's now paced all receivers in YPR, YPT and aDOT each of the last two seasons. However, he's yet to finish a season better than 48th at WR in target share (18%), 42nd in targets (84), 45th in catches (47), 18th in yards (1,003), 18th in TDs (seven) or 25th in fantasy PPG. Of course, with Michael Pittman Jr. no longer in the mix, Pierce is a good bet for a more well-rounded role as Daniel Jones' top target. There's some risk here, but the 26-year-old's hefty contract suggests we should take him seriously as a fantasy WR3.