He’s never caught 40 passes in a season, he’s never had 600 yards in a season, he’s never caught more than seven touchdown passes or started more than seven games. He’s never had a 100-yard game.
Dontayvion Wicks was strictly a role player with the Packers, and in his three years in Green Bay he caught 108 passes for 1,328 yards and 11 touchdowns, ranking 60thamong NFL receivers during that three-year period in catches, 61st in yards, 45th in touchdowns and 61st in targets.
Role player. Backup.
Wicks found himself for most of his three years in Green Bay behind Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Christian Watson on the depth chart, and when the Packers drafted Matthew Golden 23rd overall in 2025, then paid Watson $92 million over four years and Reed $50.25 over three years, it was time for Wicks to move on.
So Howie Roseman snagged him for a couple late-round picks, gave him $12.5 million for one year and gambled that his limited production in limited playing time in Green Bay would translate into expanded production here with expanded opportunities.
Wicks projects as the Eagles’ No. 2 outside WR across from DeVonta Smith, with 1st-round rookie Makai Lemon or Elijah Moore manning the slot.
“There’s nothing that should be holding him back from anything in this league,” Eagles wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead said Tuesday. “He can go out here and have as good a year as anybody. Exciting time for him to prove that, ‘Hey, I can be more than what I was in Green Bay.’”
With Smith out for most of training camp, Wicks assumed the No. 1 outside receiver spot for several weeks and acquitted himself well.
So far, Wicks has looked the part. Whether he’ll play like a starter we’ll begin to learn a week from Sunday.
“He’s really doing a great job,” said Moorehead, the Eagles’ WRs coach since 2020, Doug Pederson’s final season as head coach. “He’s quick. He’s faster than you think he is. He’s strong at the catch point. He’s a tough cover.
“You ask our cornerbacks when they were guarding him in Green Bay. They said he was as tough of a cover as they had on that team., and they had really good receivers on that team. And it was proven by their contracts they all got in this offseason, right?
“Tay’s done a great job. He catches the ball well. And the thing that I’ll say is he’s very competitive. And if you challenge him with something, he’s going to go work on it and he’s going … to fix this. And I think as a coach, that’s all you can ask for out of your players.”
Wicks is the centerpiece of a revamped wide receiver room that includes four newcomers. Veterans Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore were free agent pickups and rookie Makai Lemon was the 20th pick in the draft. Smith and Darius Cooper are the only holdovers from 2025.
In Green Bay, Wicks played under Matt LeFleur, whose connection with the Kyle Shanahan offense goes back to their days together with the Texans in 2008, when Shanahan was Gary Kubiak’s offensive coordinator and LeFleur was an offensive quality control coach. McVay, Shanahan and LeFleur all worked together under Mike Shanahan in Washington. Sean Mannion played for McVay on a Rams staff that also included LaFleur and coached under LaFleur last year in Green Bay.
So Wicks spent the last two years learning what would become the Mannion offense that he’s now a part of.
“With him being in this system and having the I would say almost the mental advantage over everybody because he’s been in the system, he’s not thinking as much,” Moorehead said. “He can just go out and play. It should be a pretty good. (Not) thinking as much, you can just go out and play.
“I think from a group standpoint, we have such a diverse group, but his skill set really shows like a traditional wide receiver, the wide receiver 2’s in this league have been. And with Smitty out (during camp) and him having to take on the wide receiver 1 spot during camp, he did a really good job.
And he really stepped up and he showed a lot and he was able to get the trust of Jalen early. They worked this offseason together. They worked in the spring, but then they worked in the summer they worked in camp together. And I’m just excited he’s here.”