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Green Bay Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks on Sunday joined Pro Football Hall of Famers Don Hutson and James Lofton on an exclusive list.
On the opening series of the third quarter at Denver, Wicks caught a backward pass from Jordan Love, then threw the ball across the field to running back Aaron Jones for a gain of 14 yards. With that, Wicks joined Hutson, Lofton, Sterling Sharpe and Randall Cobb as the only receivers in franchise history to complete a pass.
The left-hander from Plaquemine, La., who was a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, showed a live arm and knack for the position.
“My first year in high school when I joined the team, I played QB behind my brother, so that was a thing, and then I moved to receiver like a year in,” Wicks said. “I wasn’t playing, I was just backing my brother up, I was like the third-string QB. And then my 11th-grade year, one of the receivers got hurt and they moved me. My brother was throwing it to me every time, so I just stayed with it.”
At the University of Virginia in 2021, Wicks broke Herman Moore’s school record with 1,203 receiving yards. In his second game of the season, he caught two touchdown passes and had an 18-yard completion against Illinois.
“These guys in pre-practice, they’re throwing balls back and forth to each other,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “You’re just like, ‘Oh, this guy looks like he can throw.’”
The play had been in the works for a few weeks. It wasn’t executed like it had been on the practice field, which was a credit to Wicks.
“That was a heck of a throw,” LaFleur said. “[Denver safety Justin] Simmons, he’s a really good, smart, heady player. I was just watching the deep safety the whole time and he didn’t leave that hash and he sniffed that play out pretty quickly.
“Typically, at least the way we had repped the play in practice, there was a little bit more air under that ball and it hit a little bit further downfield. So, I was anticipating that and I’m just watching Simmons kind of hover. Wicks made the adjustment and threw it on a line and it was a great play by him.”
Wicks played a lot early in the season when Christian Watson was out with a hamstring injury. However, he played only 13 snaps against the Raiders, when he caught one pass for 10 yards, and 14 snaps against the Broncos, when he caught one pass for 17 yards to convert a third-and-4 a handful of plays before his completion.
“I think he’s a guy that we’ve got to continue to try to get more opportunities for in our offense because he’s shown the ability,” LaFleur said. “Not only is he a great route-runner but he’s a pretty tenacious blocker. I think you saw it on the short-yardage run by Aaron Jones [when he pancaked his man midway through the second quarter]. He’ll get after people.
“He’s physical, he’s smart, he’s a really good route-runner, he’s got really strong hands and he’s fearless. He’s a guy we’ve got a lot of confidence in, and we’ve got to try to find different ways to integrate him more into our offense because he’s a productive player.”
With eight catches for 112 yards, Wicks is happy with his progress, though the team’s three-game losing streak tempered that enthusiasm.
“Losing always makes everything feel different, but I feel good with where I’m at,” he said. “I’ve got to clean up a couple things in the game, but I think I’m doing a good job. I can definitely clean up some stuff and be better, but so far I think when my name is called and I step in, I have that confidence to make plays. We do it in practice, so having that confidence in your preparation in practice and trusting that only helps me out on game day.”
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