Dontayvion

Wicks

Watson suffered a mild high-ankle sprain in Week 4 and missed Week 5’s contest because of it. He was limited in practice for all three sessions this week, giving him a legitimate shot at suiting up on Sunday. Still, a one-week absence because of a high-ankle sprain would be on the low end for missed games, so fantasy managers who are counting on Watson should have a backup plan in place. Dontayvion Wicks took Watson’s place in the lineup last week and was targeted seven times, though he only reeled in two for 20 yards.

Watson has been limited in both practices to start the week and could be trending toward a return after missing last week’s game with an ankle injury. His return would likely relegate Dontayvion Wicks back to his normal backup role, after Wicks started in place of Watson last week.

Waiver wire darling Wicks fell flat against an exploitable Rams secondary. With Christian Watson sidelined, Wicks ran a route on 20 of the Packers’ 28 drop backs and saw a team-high 27 percent target share. Everything aligned for a decent day but the Love-Wicks connection fizzled out in a balanced offensive game plan. Wicks has now caught seven of 20 targets over the past two games. He’ll have to boost his efficiency if he’s going to come through in Week 6 against an Arizona defense that ranks among the NFL’s worst.

Wicks’ season-high snap share came on the heels of a Christian Watson injury, but his 58 snaps were only seven fewer than Romeo Doubs (65), who led the team. Wicks led the Commanders with 13 targets against the Vikings and should see an increased role, with Watson likely to miss extended time. We should temper expectations for Wicks entering Week 5 against the Rams, but the second-year receiver has been targeted on an impressive 26.5 percent of his routes this season. He’ll have some appeal as a WR4 next week.

Per Rapoport, an MRI revealed no fracture in Watson’s ankle, but the injury could land the third-year receiver on injured reserve. Watson was carted from the field in the first half and obviously didn’t return to the field. He’s caught just five passes for 80 yards and one touchdown on the year. Dontayvion Wicks emerged to play on a season-high 58 snaps last week, and will be in line to see a busier workload while Watson is out.

With Christian Watson suffering a second quarter ankle injury, Wicks nearly doubled his previous career high for targets. He, of course, was not efficient as Jordan Love struggled through the first half before being buoyed by second half comeback mode. Wicks committed a bad fourth down drop at the goal line, and was the intended target on Love’s third interception. We wouldn’t say it was a triumphant performance, but Wicks is at least obviously back in the WR4 mix after totaling just six targets during Love’s two-game injury absence. The Rams’ soft defense awaits for Week 5.

We can only keep making excuses about Jordan Love being out for so long. Wicks appears to be the clear fourth receiver in the pecking order right now, which could make fantasy production hard to come by. Love should return in Week 4, so if you’re in deeper formats, you can hold Wicks for one more week just to be sure.

Just as the training camp reports indicated, Wicks ran as a distant WR4 for the Packers in their 2024 opener. Wicks could have removed the goose egg from his box score with a chunk gain in the second quarter, but he slipped at the top of his route and was unable to reel in Love’s pass despite being wide open. Wicks also drew a defensive pass interference call at the end zone later in the game that set up a Christian Watson touchdown. Barring an injury ahead of him on the depth chart, Wicks doesn’t appear to have a fantasy-relevant role.

Wicks remains unlikely to begin the season as a starter from 11-personnel but plays like this continue to hint at untapped upside for the second-year wide receiver. Coming off a rookie season in which he ranked fourth in route win rate against man coverage and 10th in overall route win rate, Wicks could eventually force the issue and earn additional snaps for a suddenly crowded Green Bay wide receiver room.

The tallies come from Acme Packing Co. Team Community Producer, Justis Mosqueda, whose 2023 Family Night and preseason snap counts helped Mosqueda effectively project last year’s regular season starting lineup. Doubs (21 snaps) and Watson (19 snaps) debuted as the two-wide receiver-set winners with second-year WR Jayden Reed logging 16 snaps, WR Dontayvion Wicks six, Bo Melton five and Grant DuBose two. Doubs will be a fantasy-draft-day steal if the trend holds.