Eagles are ‘really excited’ about Dontayvion Wicks

DeVonta Smith was out again this week, leaving the Eagles to spread his targets around to several role players. Wicks led the team’s wideouts in targets, but it was Dallas Goedert who paced the team. On the back of one long touchdown catch, Darius Cooper led the team in receiving yards. Wicks is good for the occasional big play but isn’t a consistent enough player to be a solid fantasy option. He will be a deep FLEX option for Week 6 versus the Panthers.

He only got in a limited session today, but apparently that was all the Eagles needed to see. He’ll still be a tough start against Jacksonville in what is projected to be a low-scoring game as Philadelphia’s passing offense looks to rebound from last week’s rough showing.

Wicks was listed as a limited participant today, indicating that he strained his hamstring during Thursday’s practice. With DeVonta Smith (hamstring) still sidelined, rookie WR Makai Lemon could be the de facto top receiver, though the team has struggled to use him effectively thus far. Hollywood Brown (ankle) also remains sidelined.

Wicks was in theory the Eagles’ No. 1 receiver with DeVonta Smith (hamstring) sidelined, but in reality he does not really have a “scaleable” skill-set. It wasn’t surprising Wicks and Jalen Hurts failed to get anything going down the field with the Rams constantly in Hurts’ grill in rainy conditions. Smith seems to be looking at a multi-week absence, but Wicks will be hard-pressed to rise above WR4 status in 12-team leagues.

The Eagles limited Smith’s practice reps last week, and he successfully suited up on game day, nabbing 6-of-8 targets for 65 yards. Apparently, the performance took a toll. The Eagles will likely be without their No. 1 wide receiver this week. Dontayvion Wicks will fill in as the team’s top receiver.

For his part, Wicks was consistently breaking free of coverage with smooth route-running ability, but the offense managed just over 23 minutes time of possession on 47 offensive plays, leaving all involved stuck on a sinking ship. Better fantasy days should be ahead for Wicks in the immediate future, at least for as long as tight end Dallas Goedert remains sidelined with an MCL sprain. That said, he draws a difficult matchup against the Rams in Week 4. Treat Wicks as a viable FLEX option in a tough spot.

This is unfortunate. Smith dealt with a hamstring injury back in August, but rehabbed it successfully before the season began. The Eagles have an extra day to rest, with their Week 3 game against the Bears airing as this week’s Monday Night Football game, but he must be treated as questionable to play at this time. Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks would handle No. 1 wide receiver duties if Smith cannot play.

It sounds like Smith may end up being listed as a limited participant. We will learn more when the injury report comes out later today. Hopefully, this is just veteran rest as the Eagles gear up for a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Bears. Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks took a hard fall in Week 2 and missed a few plays. He later told reporters that he “will be good.” If Wicks is indeed good and Smith is not, Wicks would operate as the receiving corps’ top option.

The 74 yards were the fifth most of Wicks’ career, putting him one ahead of the 73 he posted in his first game as an Eagle last week. The former Packer is off to a great Philly start from a compiling standpoint, though he did lose snaps to Darius Cooper as the game wore on this afternoon. Hopefully that was for some inscrutable matchup-based reason. Wicks can rug pull with the best of them, so despite the two strong efforts to begin the year, he should be considered more of a WR5 than WR4 heading into Week 3 in Chicago.

Wicks came up with the biggest play of the day for either team when he hauled in a 64-yard pass in the first quarter from Jalen Hurts. Wicks came down with a pass that traveled over 40 yards in the air after Commanders CB Mike Sainristil lost track of it, and ran for another 20-plus yards before being brought down on the Commanders’ six-yard line, eventually setting up a touchdown by Dallas Goedert. In the second quarter, Wicks would again break free from Sainristil, this time in the end zone to secure a nine-yard touchdown. Wicks ran as the Eagles’ WR2 in this one, with his 48 snaps and 31 routes run ranking second only to DeVonta Smith. That said, his low target total leaves plenty to be desired, making him hard to trust in Week 2’s game against the Titans.