Who was the most improved player on the Colts roster in 2024?

Despite how the season ended, there are a number of rising stars on the Indianapolis Colts roster. But 2024 was, without a doubt, a standout year for one player in particular: Alec Pierce.

Pierce was selected by the Colts in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and his career started off slowly. Though he was serviceable enough, he didn't attract much attention at first. He kept his head down and did what he could to help his team win, even if it meant less glory for him.

"I always try to be a team-first person, and maybe that's why I don't get as many targets as some people," he said, in a new article about his growth posted to Colts.com. "But I never want to be somebody who's complaining about getting the ball."

By 2024, Pierce thought he might be in trouble. The Colts drafted wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, and that led Pierce to walk to general manager Chris Ballard's office and ask what this meant for him. "Nothing," Ballard said. "Compete."

And compete he did.

Not only did Pierce get a career-high 824 receiving yards on 37 catches, he led the entire league in an incredible 22.3 average yards per catch. As the article explained, Pierce became the first NFL player to average over 22 yards on at least 37 catches since DeSean Jackson in 2010, and the first Colts player to lead the league in yards per reception since wide receiver Roger Carr in 1976, who averaged 25.9 yards per reception on 43 catches.

Given all that, it's no surprise that Pierce was named the Most Improved Player for the Colts by Thomas Valentine for Pro Football Focus.

"Alec Pierce’s role in the Colts offense is clearly defined. They want him to win downfield with his speed and 6-foot-3 frame. That hadn’t always been a surefire thing in his first two seasons in the NFL, but Pierce took a real step forward in 2024 and asserted himself as a reliable deep threat forAnthony Richardson and Joe Flacco. Pierce caught 37 passes for a career-high 824 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024, and he earned a career-high 74.3 grade in the process," he wrote.

"The effort to get Pierce the ball downfield more was clear too, as his average depth of target increased to 22.8 yards, and he earned the second-most targets of 20 yards or more in the NFL in 2024 (30). Pierce caught 12 of those targets for 517 yards, the most yards earned on deep passes in the NFL. He broke out as a real deep threat, and his talents are clearly catered to Richardson's strengths."

Alec Pierce has become a fan favorite, and it's easy to see why. He's humble and talented, and clearly has a bright future ahead of him. And he's quickly becoming beloved by his team, too.

""We've all seen the glimpses and the potential that he's had. Seeing his development as a player, seeing the competition, he rose to the competition... seeing the year he had, it was awesome to see.""

DeForest Buckner

"Alec Pierce has become who we thought Alec Pierce could be," Ballard said in his end-of-season-press conference. "He didn't bull****. He didn't complain. He didn't make excuses. He competed, and he is freaking good. He's exactly who we thought he would be."