Technician Dontayvion Wicks is a dark horse weapon to elevate the Packers' offense
If you are asked to order the Green Bay Packers' depth chart at wide receiver, the three first options will probably be Christian Watson, who entered last season as the presumed WR1, and the two receiving yards leaders of 2023, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. But there is a dark horse candidate to be the […]
If you are asked to order the Green Bay Packers' depth chart at wide receiver, the three first options will probably be Christian Watson, who entered last season as the presumed WR1, and the two receiving yards leaders of 2023, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. But there is a dark horse candidate to be the main receiver on the roster, and he came into the league as a fifth-round pick. Dontayvion Wicks finished up his rookie season with 581 yards and four touchdowns.
Beyond that, his underlying stats show how efficient he was — and how good he can become because of his technique. Earlier this month, PFF named Wicks the Packers' most underrated player.
"Second-year receiver Dontayvion Wicks finished as Green Bay's highest-graded receiver in 2023 (77.8). The then-rookie was playing at a high level toward the second half of the season, earning an 83.6 PFF overall grade from Week 11 onward, which ranked 10th among wide receivers. He caught 95.1% of his catchable targets in 2023, which ranked second among all wide receivers."
Wicks' ascension came along with Jordan Love's, and that's certainly not a coincidence. The quarterback clearly got more comfortable with his receivers as the season went on, and Wicks' ability to be in the right place at the right time was extremely helpful.
"He's a really good route-runner, really shifty guy, catches the ball really well and he's making plays after the catch," Love said during the season. "He's getting a lot of YAC right now. He's just a tough guy. He's doing a lot of really good things."
Elite comparison
It's always tough (and sometimes unfair) to compare young players to established stars and particularly Wicks, who was a fifth-round pick. But it's impossible not to see some similarities in his game to Davante Adams, the former Packers star who was a second-round pick in 2014. Obviously not in terms of level, but in the sense of how they beat coverage, their route-running skills, and ability to generate yards after the reception.
"Coming into the league, I already knew a lot about him, and I'd already watched him a lot," Wicks said about Adams last year. "We've got a lot of the same movements, releases, like to create separation on the release, so I figure watching him would help me a lot more coming into the league as a first-year rookie, going against vet DBs."
Wicks played four seasons at Virginia. His college position coach was Marques Hagans, a former NFL receiver. And Hagans told A to Z Sports last year how Wicks' experience as a high school quarterback helped him.
"He's tough to bring down after the catch and he's so explosive. Great hands and good change of direction," Hagans mentioned. "He sees the field really well, and especially when it slows down for him."
The Packers don't have a clear hierarchy in the wide receiver room. And that openness brings more opportunities for Dontayvion Wicks to extrapolate his efficiency and transform that into top production with more volume.
Davante Adams reflects on trade request and talks about Love’s performance with the Packers
Wide received asked to be dealt by Green Bay two years ago
