clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Colts select Cincinnati WR Alec Pierce with the 53rd overall pick in 2022 NFL Draft

Indy’s first selection goes to the Cincinnati wideout

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 06 Tulsa at Cincinnati Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Indianapolis Colts have selected Cincinnati wideout Alec Pierce with the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft — with the team’s first selection so far.

The Colts traded down from the 42nd overall pick and were able to essentially acquire an additional third round pick in the process—while still getting their presumed target, Pierce.

The 6’3”, 211 pound wideout caught 52 receptions for 884 receiving yards (17.0 ypr. avg.) and 8 touchdown receptions—earning 2nd-Team All-AAC honors in 2021. He helped the Bearcats make the 2021 college football playoff.

He ran a 4.41 forty time and has a 40.5 inch vertical jump. His Relative Athletic Score [RAS] was 9.82 out of a maximum 10.0—meaning he’s a physical freak of sorts.

The Colts clearly really liked Pierce throughout the pre-draft evaluation process, as it was speculated they traveled to Cincinnati to further scout him—and not necessarily his teammate, highly touted top quarterback prospect Desmond Ridder.

Pierce is regarded as a big, physical wideout who can get vertical—with ball skills, and should provide some much needed speed on the other side of Michael Pittman Jr. in the starting Colts offense.

He’s also a tenacious blocker on the perimeter in the ground game—for a Colts offense that wants to ‘run the damn ball’ as its identity with NFL First-Team All-Pro Jonathan Taylor.

He should add another playmaking downfield target for veteran starting quarterback Matt Ryan, which had been sorely lacking so far this offseason: