Indianapolis Colts Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Colts HC Frank Reich said Monday that WR Michael Pittman has “made good progress” with his quad injury and is on track to return for Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs. We'll track his practice participation this week.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor carried just 9 times in Sunday's surprising 24-0 beatdown at the hands of the Jaguars. Taylor did manage 54 yards on those attempts, averaging 6.0 per run. He also led Nyheim Hines in routes for the 2nd straight game, though Hines closed that gap some and beat Taylor 5-1 in targets. Ultimately, it was a frustrating day for a player you probably expected to lead your Week 2 efforts. But there's no reason to worry about Taylor.

Colts DT DeForest Buckner and CB Kenny Moore are both active for today's game against the Jaguars. Each player turned up questionable with a hip injury but is in play for IDP lineups.

The Colts have downgraded WR Michael Pittman (quad) to out for Sunday's game against the Jaguars. With Alec Pierce already out, Parris Campbell, Ashton Dulin and Mike Strachan suddenly look like the top 3 wideouts for Sunday's upside matchup with the Jaguars. The WR situation hurts QB Matt Ryan's fantasy upside but helps the target upside for Colts RBs and TEs. We still wouldn't have an Indy TE in play for most fantasy formats. But Nyheim Hines gets more interesting.

Colts CB Kenny Moore (hip) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Jaguars. He sustained the injury in Wednesday's practice and then sat out Thursday. But Moore returned to a full workout Friday. So it seems we should expect him to play.

Colts DT DeForest Buckner is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars with a hip injury. ESPN’s Stephen Holder writes “odds are that Buckner will play” but adds that he’ll test the hip Saturday. We’ll watch the status for the defensive star

Colts WR Michael Pittman (quad) is listed as questionable for this weekend's game vs. the Jaguars. He went from a limited practice on Wednesday to no practice on Thursday and Friday. We'll look for further updates on Pittman and get the Colts' inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday. But he'll obviously carry added risk in Week 2 fantasy lineups if he ends up playing.

Colts WR Alec Pierce (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Jaguars. The rookie made some progress through the protocol this week and has a good chance to be cleared for Week 3. Look for WR Ashton Dulin to pick up most of Pierce's snaps against Jacksonville.

Colts WR Alec Pierce (concussion) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. It gives him a shot to be cleared in time for Sunday's game vs. the Jaguars. Pierce's status has taken on increased importance with WR Michael Pittman dealing with a quad injury.

Colts WR Michael Pittman (quad) did not practice on Thursday. That's a downgrade from his limited workout on Wednesday. Pittman's status for this weekend's game vs. the Jaguars is now in question. Check back tomorrow for another update.

Colts WR Alec Pierce developed concussion symptoms in the wake of Sunday's game against the Texans and has entered the league protocol, HC Frank Reich told reporters Wednesday. We'll see whether Pierce can get through ahead of Sunday's game. Pierce ranked 3rd on the team in route rate and drew only 2 targets in the opener, so he shouldn't be near fantasy lineups even if he's back.

Colts WR Michael Pittman drew 13 targets in Sunday's tie with Houston, 6 more than his nearest teammate. Matt Ryan's 50 pass attempts helped enhance that number, but the 26% target share marked a nice start for Indy's clear lead wideout. He proved efficient, too, racking up a 9-121-1 receiving line. RB Jonathan Taylor and TE Kyle Granson tied for 2nd on the team with 7 targets apiece. RB Nyheim Hines and WR Ashton Dulin followed at 6 apiece. No one else drew more than 4. That made Week 1 disappointing for WRs Parris Campbell and Alec Pierce, who drew targets on just 7.7% and 6.3% of routes, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus. (For context: Pittman finished at 27.1%, Dulin at 46.2%.) Campbell and/or Pierce will need things to change before making sense for fantasy football lineups.

If HC Frank Reich was considering shaving any portion off RB Jonathan Taylor's role this season, then he totally forgot about it in Week 1. Taylor claimed 31 of Indianapolis' 34 RB rushes in the tie with Houston, as well as 7 targets. That tied for 2nd on the team and edged Nyheim Hines by 1. Taylor racked up 161 yards and a TD on the ground, adding 4 catches for 14 yards. Hines proved efficient as a receiver, catching all 6 of his targets for 50 yards to rank 2nd on the team in both categories. But he gained just 4 yards on 3 rushes and still played too small a role to be trustworthy in starting lineups for most fantasy football formats. Both players likely saw their Week 1 target counts inflated by QB Matt Ryan's 50 pass attempts.

The Athletic's James Boyd expects Alec Pierce to emerge as the Colts' 2nd most targeted WR. Boyd believes Pierce's combination of size and speed will make him a more valuable weapon for QB Matt Ryan than WR Parris Campbell, especially in the red zone. We ultimately like targeting both these guys near the end of fantasy drafts.

Colts DE Kwity Paye hurt his left knee in Wednesday's practice. Despite initial fears, however, the 2nd-year player suffered only a bone bruise "and should be fine," according to ESPN's Stephen Holder. We'll see whether the issue threatens Paye's Week 1 status.

Bears RB Khalil Herbert is participating in practice on Sunday. He left practice early on Saturday with an unknown injury, but apparently it wasn’t anything of significance. The 2nd-year RB remains an intriguing bench stash.

Bears RB Khalil Herbert left Saturday's practice on a cart, according to multiple reports. We have yet to see any details beyond that but will certainly be watching for more.

Giants QB Daniel Jones revealed that he underwent a "non-football-related procedure" on his neck this offseason. "I saw there was something about it," Jones added. "It was completely unrelated, but I feel good. Neck is great." Jones, of course, missed the final 6 games of last season with a disc injury in his neck. Whether this procedure was related to that injury or not, it's worth remembering that Giants insider Dan Schneier told us on the Draft Sharks podcast that Jones appears to have lost velocity on his throws this summer. It'll be something to watch closely early this season. Jones is no more than a risk/reward QB2 in fantasy drafts.

Colts QB Matt Ryan showed some love for rookie WR Alec Pierce. “More so than anything he does on the field, it’s the combination of the work ethic, the competitiveness, all of the intangible stuff combined with the talent,” Ryan explained. “If you’re going to be a great player in this league, which I think he can be, you’ve got to have it all.” It’s been a smooth summer for Pierce, who’s most recently impressed at join practices with Detroit. “It was good to see Alec make a couple of those plays [in joint practices]– a couple of those back-shoulder plays,” HC Frank Reich said. “I thought Matt put a couple of those right on the money. Alec made the plays. Those are the kind of things we saw from Alec in college.” A Round 2 pick, Pierce looks like a dark horse candidate for 90-100 targets.

Colts HC Frank Reich wants a more balanced offense this season after ranking 28th in pass rate last year. "You don’t see teams that have this ground-and-pound run game win championships,” Reich said. “You just don’t. I’m sure it’s happened with one or two teams, but our best formula is to be balanced." Reich also conceded that it will mean fewer touches for RB Jonathan Taylor. "I’m not saying he won’t lead the league in touches, because you never know how things are going to play out. But I almost don’t want him to," he said of Taylor. “The goal is not to lead the league in rushing. The goal is not to make him the MVP of the league. The goal is to win championships." Taylor easily led the league with 332 carries last year -- 25 more than anyone else. So he can afford to lose some and still be a fantasy stud. More passing, of course, would be good news for QB Matt Ryan, WR Michael Pittman and the rest of the Colts' pass catchers.