Is Mo Alie-Cox Finally Emerging as Tight End 1?
Indianapolis Colts' General Manager Chris Ballard has quite the reputation for finding hidden gems over the years. He found a top tier slot corner in Kenny Moore II off of waivers in 2017. Then, he followed that up by signing UDFA George Odum, who was an All-Pro special teams player in 2020.
One of the more under-the-radar additions in his tenure came back in 2017 with the signing of college basketball player Mo Alie-Cox. While it did take a bit for him to develop, Alie-Cox has steadily become one of the more well-rounded tight ends in the league.
While Alie-Cox's value can't be denied, he has yet to take that final step as the Colts' true number one tight end. Injuries and quarterback play have been factors in this, but time is starting to run out for the now 28-year old tight end to break out.
The last few weeks, however, have shown the potential that we all have fallen in love with over the years. He has six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games played.
In today's article, I'm going to dive into why Alie-Cox deserves more targets in this offense and why the time for him to break out is now.
Game Against the Dolphins
Going into the Dolphins' game in week four, the Colts had injuries across the board. One notable injury was to starting tight end Jack Doyle. While Doyle did suit up for this game, he essentially took a backseat to Alie-Cox due to the injury.
Alie-Cox saw a season-high 49 offensive snaps in this game and finished the day with three receptions for 42 yards and two touchdowns.
The key takeaway from this game is that Alie-Cox needs to be used more in the redzone. The Colts are currently the worst team in the NFL in redzone scoring, only scoring touchdowns on 36.84% of their trips.
While he isn't a great separator with blazing speed, Alie-Cox does have the size and strength to box out just about any defender in the league. Incorporating more jump balls and one on one situations in the gameplan for him could drastically help an ailing redzone offense.
Game Against the Ravens
Doyle did return in this game, and Alie-Cox saw his snaps drop back down to his usual 25-35 rate (he finished with 31 in this game). Despite the lighter workload, he still managed to find work in the passing game.
He finished the game with three receptions for 50 yards and did most of his work down the field. Alie-Cox does look noticeably faster and leaner this year, and it is helping him get to his spots quicker in the passing game.
What I liked in this game was the play-calls that featured him as the primary target. In all three of these clips below, he is the number one option on the throw (with the result being a big gain for the offense).
He wasn't the overall number one option in this game, but he doesn't have to be. With Michael Pittman Jr and Zach Pascal continually producing, Alie-Cox just has to convert on the few opportunities he gets each game. So far this year, he has done exactly that.
It is Time to Feed Mo
We have seen this story before and it, unfortunately, never seems to come to fruition. Through five games last season, Alie-Cox had 194 yards receiving. He went on to finish the year with just 394.
So, what makes this year different? Alie-Cox is finally healthy (at the moment) and he has a quarterback that has a tendency to target his tight ends. Carson Wentz relied a lot on Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert during his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Is Alie-Cox on the level of either of those two players? Probably not. He can, however, be a lesser version of those players and provide a reliable target for Wentz in the passing game. Alie-Cox is averaging 8.2 yards per target so far this season, and I bet he can keep that up even with more looks.
The overall point is that Alie-Cox doesn't need to be the top target in the passing game. He should be one of the main focal points, though. He is a talented player that has proven that he can produce when given the chances over the years. In 2021, it is finally time to give Alie-Cox the targets at the tight end position.
Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.
