The Green Bay Packers are returning a large chunk of last year’s team as they look to make progress in the NFC North next season.
The Packers had the NFL’s youngest roster by average age at the start of last season and giving those players another chance to take a step forward isn’t a terrible idea. But time flies quickly in the league and when you’re a promising player one second, you’re an embattled veteran the next.
This leaves a young playmaker on the bubble as he heads into OTAs and makes a few practices that seem meaningless feel like a big deal.
Dontayvion Wicks Has the Most to Lose Entering OTAs
Pop quiz! Who led the Packers in targets last season?
You may think it was Jayden Reed, who led the Packers with 857 receiving yards or tight end Tucker Kraft, who broke out in his second year with 707 yards and seven touchdowns. But the correct answer was Dontayvion Wicks, who led Green Bay with 76 targets. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old didn’t do much with those targets.
Wicks had a tough sophomore campaign in the NFL, catching just 39 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns. It was disappointing considering the Virginia product caught 39 passes for 581 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie season and also dropped 18% of his targets – the highest clip in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.
A lot of the drama in the Packers receiving room has surrounded Reed, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, who is recovering from a multiligament knee injury. But it may be Wicks who is not only trying to fend off the incoming rookie duo, but free agent pickup Mecole Hardman Jr., who got a positive review from Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable.
“First and foremost, he’s been very coachable,” Vrable said of Hardman via the Packers’ team website.
Hardman brings a few things to the table that Wicks doesn’t. Hardman ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash during the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine while Wicks posted a 4.62-second time in 2023. Hardman also plays special teams, logging 9.2 yards per punt return and 23.8 yards per kick return with two total touchdowns.
If allowing Keisean Nixon to be a full-time cornerback wasn’t enough of an incentive, Hardman catches the ball when it’s thrown his way, logging a 7.2% career drop rate per PFF.
This creates a perfect storm that could take Wicks out of the equation. Doubs, Golden and Reed are projected to be in the starting roles and Williams is a lock to make the roster as a third-round pick. If Watson isn’t ready to go, it could create a battle between Wicks and Hardman for the final spot with the competition beginning as soon as OTAs.