Letting go of wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks was a tough pill for the Green Bay Packers to swallow this offseason. The 25-year-old played three promising seasons for the Green and Gold, showing signs of excellence despite also having his fair share of struggles with holding onto the ball at times. It was a constant back-and-forth between fans and coaches alike as to what his ceiling was and who he could become as a player.
Ultimately, Green Bay decided that it would let someone else find out, solidifying its wide receiver core by trading Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles and re-signing Jayden Reen and Christian Watson instead. The Packers have largely been complimentary of Wicks in the deal, thinking of it more as a business decision than anything personal, but recent comments by Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni should certainly catch their attention.
In speaking to Philadelphia media, Sirianni said that, "The way they are off the line of scrimmage, the way they are at the top of the route, the way they are with the ball in their hands, it just really reminds me of [Keenan Allen]."
It's hard to deny that Wicks has shown significant promise as a route runner so far in his young career, but that doesn't mean it's time to start throwing Hall of Fame comparisons around.
As Packers fans can attest, Dontayvion Wicks has a long way to catch up to Keenan Allen.
Allen is not only one of the greatest route runners of the 21st century, but he completes those plays, too. With a career catch rate of 68%, including four seasons above 70%, he's proven himself to have some of the most reliable hands in football. The same cannot be said of Wicks, who has a 60% catch rate through the first three years of his career.
Sure, there could be some overlap in terms of the underlying skill set or what they set out to do as players, but Allen is one of the most reliable receivers in modern NFL history and has averaged 70.5 yards per game over a 13-year career. Wicks is only at 2.3 receptions for 28.9 yards per game in three seasons as a pro. There are levels to this game that shouldn't go understated — especially for a Super Bowl-winning coach like Nick Sirianni.
Who's to say what Wicks will be in the long run? His destiny as a player is far from sealed. But Packers fans watched him up close for three years, and while they rooted for his success at every step along the way, we don't have enough evidence to believe he's anywhere close to who Keenan Allen is. Otherwise, the Packers would've kept him in Green Bay.
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