Acme Packing Company
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks has had some really good games over his up-and-down three-year NFL career. However, Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions looked like his most complete performance as a pro, and signaled that he could become a true star at the position if he can build on that kind of game.
Wicks finished Green Bay’s Thanksgiving victory with six catches on seven targets for 94 yards and two scores. It was his first multi-score game since September of last season, but his most important play of the game came on a game-sealing fourth-down reception that allowed the Packers to kneel out the rest of the clock.
That play doesn’t happen without Wicks’ excellent route-running ability and release package, instantly winning inside leverage off of the snap to maximize his separation on his route stem. That, plus his ability to high point the football, allowed him to haul in the pass despite losing a shoe in the process.
Wicks was a crucial part of the passing game all day, despite playing 31 of 62 possible offensive snaps. His 4.09 yards per route run were the second highest of his career, behind only his 91-yard game against the Los Angeles Chargers during his rookie year.
Consistency has been an issue for Wicks during his NFL career, but there have been signs this year that the third-year wide receiver is starting to get much more acclimated to the NFL level. On top of improving his drop rate from 18 percent in 2024 down to 10.3 percent this year, he’s also become a much more reliable target in contested-catch situations, hauling in 7-of-11 contested-catch opportunities in 2025 compared to just 4-of-16 last year.
While Wicks has always been a twitched-up route runner, some of the nuance in his route-running ability is starting to show up this season, particularly with utilizing tempo in his routes to catch defensive backs sleeping. His first touchdown on Thursday was a great example of that, stuttering on his route to catch Brian Branch flat-footed to give him enough space deep to toe-tap his way to a score.
Wicks was able to make plays all over the field, whether it was in the deep and intermediate areas or even behind the line of scrimmage. Matt LaFleur looked like he had Wicks heavily involved in the game plan, even manufacturing a touch for him early on a swing pass to let him make a nice play in space.
The big question for LaFleur and the Packers is now how they want to utilize Wicks going forward. Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, and Savion Williams were all absent for Thursday’s game, and all are likely to return in the next week or so.
It’s a champagne problem for the Packers having so many mouths to feed, but with the kind of game he had against a playoff-caliber team, this might be the kind of performance that gets Wicks more involved in Green Bay’s offense.
