Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks had his role reduced in a 17-13 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5 on the road. Wicks only caught one pass for 10 yards receiving. He has caught seven passes for 95 yards receiving and one touchdown in five games played and is averaging 13.6 yards per catch this season.
Dontayvion Wicks has also had 14 targets from quarterback Jordan Love so far this season. There is an advanced stat that shows that Wicks needs to be on the field more often, and he does this better than Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed.
Wicks is opened on 62% of man-to-man coverage snaps, and that is the top across all of the wide receivers in the NFL. Here is the chart to prove it:
If guys aren’t going to get open for the #Packers, they need to give Dontayvion Wicks more opportunities.
Play him outside, try him in the slot. Don’t care.
Chart via @arjunmenon100 pic.twitter.com/MnqIhC7aT8
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) October 12, 2023
This is so true, and the most important thing in the NFL is getting opened. However, Jordan Love is only competing 55.6% of his passes. It doesn’t matter if Wicks is getting opened because if Love can’t hit him in stride, he won’t catch it.
Green Bay Backers Dontayvion Wicks’s Stats Are Interesting, and We Will See If He Gets a Bigger Role Moving Forward
One of the reasons why Wicks got his role reduced is because of Christian Watson playing in the last two games for the Packers. Watson is their home run hitter, and that isn’t the problem. Romeo Doubs is no question the number two wide receiver. The debate should be who should be after those two between Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.
Reed has caught 13 passes for 210 yards receiving and two touchdowns last season. He has averaged 16.2 per reception and has been targeted 27 times this season. That is double Wicks’s targets, and Jayden Reed has had a case of dropping passes throughout his rookie season up to this point.
Dontayvion Wicks was a fifth-round selection (169th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Virginia. Wicks has speed, and he is open on 62% of man coverage snaps is a good thing. Someone should show this stat to head coach Matt LaFleur and get him on the field more in these situations.
Maybe this would help Jordan Love get into a groove in the first half. The debate should be about Wicks or Reed being the third wide receiver on the depth chart. Jayden Reed is second in receiving yards on the team, and he should continue to play. Also, maybe the answer to the Packers offensive woes should be, instead of trying to be a run-first offense, go with more 4-wide sets with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Dontayvion Wicks and see what happens.
