Who Should I Start? Alec Pierce or Dont'e Thornton Jr.

Thursday, August 14, 7:13 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce (groin) missed another training camp practice on Thursday with a groin injury, according to The Athletic's James Boyd. Pierce is considered day-to-day and almost certainly won't play in the second preseason game this Saturday against the Green Bay Packers. Meanwhile, fellow wideout Josh Downs suffered a hamstring injury in practice on Thursday and left early. The health of Indy's receivers is something to watch closely as we near the start of the 2025 regular season. With both Pierce and Downs banged up, Adonai Mitchell is the team's WR2 behind Michael Pittman Jr., while Ashton Dulin will also take on a bigger role. Pierce led the NFL with 22.3 yards per catch in 2024 and had a career-high 824 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games, but he'll have plenty of competition for targets with a QB situation that isn't ideal.

Wednesday, August 6, 12:06 PM

On the Las Vegas Raiders' first unofficial depth chart of the preseason, they've listed rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. as a starter opposite Jakobi Meyers. Thornton has impressed all season leading into his first year in the NFL and continues to get reps with the first-team offense during training camp. With the Raiders expected to play their starters in their preseason opener this Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks, we should see the 22-year-old get some run with quarterback Geno Smith for a series or two. So far, Thornton has been more impressive than Jack Bech, and he could operate as Smith's top deep threat down the field in 2025. Thornton averaged an impressive 25.4 yards per catch in his final season at Tennessee and could be worth a late-round flier in deep fantasy leagues. RotoBaller has him ranked as the WR78.