Draft Analysis: Alec Pierce

• Height: 6’3″
• Weight: 211 lbs
• College: Cincinnati
• Tape watched: Notre Dame, ECU, Indiana, Tulsa
• NFL Comparison: D.J. Chark

Pros

• Hands/Tracking
  Alec Pierce can flat out find the football. He is incredible tracking the football and controlling his body to put himself in the best position to catch it. He has very few drops in college, and the ones observed were deflected or poor timing by he and the quarterback. Pierce should be a reliable receiver that can also play well above the proverbial rim.

• Blocking
  Alec Pierce is here to give Christian Watson a run for the top blocking receiver of the 2022 class. He has a nice wide base and rarely crosses his feet up. He has a nice mirror, punch, and drive, and he even anchors well against driving defenders. Cincinnati even used him as an in-line blocker on run plays.

• Release/Route Running
  For the most part, Pierce is a well-polished receiver. He has fluid route breaks and can pick apart defensive coverages. He eats up cushions with his long powerful strides. He has a small, but well defined set of release moves. He uses his hands and arms well through contact and stacks defenders often.

Midline

• RAC
  Pierce offers little above the midline in terms of run after catch abilities. He is a big and strong runner, so the ability to pick up a few tough earned yards is evident. However, there is little lateral agility and quickness from Pierce. What you see is what you get when the ball is in Pierce’s hands.

• Physicality
  At 6’3″ and 211 pounds, Pierce should be able to bully a lot of college level corners. Aside from jump balls, there wasn’t much evidence of this through his routes. While he has good hand usage, I really think Pierce could work to actively be more aggressive through his release and routes. He can lean on defenders more, act instead of react, and finish blocks off with tenacity.

Cons

• Separation
  While he runs 4.4s in the 40, Pierce doesn’t always play with that kind of speed. You notice his top end speed when he opens his strides, but underneath he may struggle to create separation. He won’t be able to consistently just run by NFL athletes, so he needs to further refine his route running and short area agility to create space. His contested catch ability and his physical size help him a lot in this aspect however.

• Competition
  At 22 years old, Pierce only produced three 100 yard games in 2021. He disappeared in some games against very low level college teams. With a likely first round quarterback throwing him the ball, you’d expect a receiver of Pierce’s height/weight/speed to dominate these type of matchups. Receivers that enter the draft at his age also have an uphill battle with development.

Overview

Alec Pierce checks a lot of NFL boxes at receiver. He has the height, weight, speed, hands, and blocking skill to be a prototypical X receiver. The only real red flag is his ability to dominate at the college level. His Notre Dame game is something to hang your hat on as a GM taking a chance on him. He could payoff for a team looking to develop a young receiver with the traits you can’t teach.