The Indianapolis Colts have a fairly decent matchup to begin the 2025 season. The Miami Dolphins can be quite good offensively, but defensively, they should be worse than ar. This is especially true after losing players such as cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
If Indy is going to start the season well, then new QB1 Daniel Jones needs to be terrific, and he can't be afraid to take chances. Jones has played for six seasons in the NFL, doesn't turn the ball over much, but he hasn't given his offense many chances to be explosive.
That changes in 2025 for the quarterback because he likely has his best receiving corps to work with. That includes Alec Pierce, who, through his first three seasons, has shown he can create a lot of splashy plays, but doesn't do much else. Maybe he isn't a great route-runner, or perhaps he just hasn't played with good quarterbacks.
Indianapolis Colts' Alec Pierce is facing a make or break season
Pierce led the league in yards per catch in 2024 at 22.3. He only had 37 receptions, however. Over his career, he has caught only 51.9 percent of his targets. A second-round pick, which Pierce was in 2022, needs to do better than that.
The wide receiver has a great chance to earn a big paycheck starting next season. He has great speed for a 6'3" wideout, and those are the kind of attributes teams are willing to pay big money to sign. They won't take that risk if a player is eternally underperforming, however.
The issue for Pierce in Week 1, and possibly for the remainder of the season, is that he doesn't have a quarterback in Jones who is going to try to force the ball to the receiver. Instead, Pierce will need to do a much better job on crossing routes. Can he do that consistently? Colts fans don't know.
But he has a chance to make a statement at the beginning of the season against a Dolphins team that will be more focused on stopping the Indianapolis Colts' run game and rookie tight end Tyler Warren. Alec Pierce should see a lot of one-on-one coverage and be able to beat his defender deep.
Or, as unfortunately happens far too much, Pierce could disappear. He will still get paid by some team in 2026 if he has numbers like he did last season, but not as much as he could get paid. The run to make NFL gold starts versus the Miami Dolphins for Alec Pierce.