NFL.com lists a surprising name as the most “underappreciated” player for Colts

Cynthia Frelund from NFL Network listed the most underappreciated player from each team and had a surprising name for the Colts.

The Indianapolis Colts are loaded with talented players. From Jonathan Taylor on offense to Darius Leonard on defense, Indy has some of the league’s best players on a roster that should propel it to contender status. However, it takes more than stars to be able to win it all.

In addition to star power, quality teams need players that are often overlooked but still greatly contribute to winning. Sometimes, these are players in unglamorous positions like full back and linemen, or it could just be a player whose impact isn’t best illustrated in a box score.

These players are often considered to be underappreciated, at least that’s how Cynthia Frelund categorized them in a recent piece on NFL .com. Frelund listed the “most underappreciated” player for every NFL team.

For the Colts, the name Frelund landed on was Mo Alie-Cox, the tight end who will be returning for his fifth season next year.

Mo Alie-Cox named most “underappreciated” on Colts

This name might be surprising to fans in Indianapolis because tight end remains a position that Indy wants to get more out of in the passing game. However, Frelund argues that Mo Alie-Cox has still shown his value even without being an elite receiving threat.

He’s done so by being a great blocking tight end in an offense centered around Jonathan Taylor. Frelund notes that Alie-Cox “ranked 12th best in the NFL in 2021, per computer vision” in run-blocking amongst tight ends.

Frelund also says that the addition of Matt Ryan could help increase the receiving production for Alie-Cox. That’s something the Colts definitely could use.

With Jack Doyle now retired, Alie-Cox is the veteran tight end in Indianapolis and will lead an athletic room that hopes to be the central focus of Indy’s passing offense.

Last offseason, the Colts drafted Kylen Granson, and this offseason, they drafted Jelani Woods and Andrew Ogletree. Not only will Alie-Cox have to lead this group, but he has to keep developing to make sure that he’s not losing reps to the young talents.

The Colts will likely run a lot of two-tight end formations and ideally rotate all four players. It will be great if Indy could have consistent production in both the pass and run game from Alie-Cox and all other tight ends.

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