What Went Into Wicks’ Career Receiving Day?

Love hit Wicks again on third down during the same drive. In the clip below, Wicks is operating in the slot as the WR3 in trips. Wicks runs a crossing route that slips past the linebackers because Love looks off Antoine Winfield Jr., and Wicks comes open for a big gain.

Matt Lafleur puts Wicks in motion on the next drive, and Love hits him in the flat. Wicks picks up the first down. But instead of heading out of bounds, Wicks breaks a tackle and heads upfield to fight for more yards. Wicks makes what could have been an eight-yard gain into a big play for 20 yards.

LaFleur goes to Wicks again on the next play. The route in the clip below requires a lot of trust from Love to throw. The Packers must practice this play often because the timing has to be perfect for it to work. Wicks is acting like he’ll run a go route, so the defensive back stays in a backpedal.

Love is also looking down the field, trying to get the defense to think he’s looking for a shot play. Then, as Wicks lowers his hips and chops his feet for the stop and turn, Love throws the ball on a line to him. There is no way for the defensive back to make a play on the ball.

Wicks picked up some more yardage in garbage time, but nothing special happened on that play. All of these plays amounted to him having a career day and on an injured ankle, no less. Wicks sprained his ankle on Monday night’s game against the New York Giants, but he felt good enough to go on Sunday.

“The team needs me,” he said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team. If I feel like I can go, and it’s not going to limit me, I look at it like it’s hurt or it’s hurting, and I wasn’t hurt, so I was able to play and be me.”

On Sunday, Wicks was Green Bay’s second-highest-graded player versus the Bucs, earning a 78.8 from PFF. PFF classifies that as a high-quality start, something Wicks is trying to give the Packers weekly. “Doing as much as you can to help the team win,” Wicks said. “That’s always my mindset.”

Wicks is PFF’s highest-graded receiver on the Packers. He’s third on the team in total receiving yards with 491 through 15 weeks. Watson has a reputation as the big-play receiver, but with his injury trouble lingering, Wicks has stepped in to provide some explosive plays. Wicks leads the Packers in average yards per reception with 15.8. His uncanny ability to evade defenders is a key asset that allowed him to break off such big plays.

According to PFF, after the excellent performance on Sunday, Wicks is the 35th-highest-graded receiver in the NFL, outpacing his teammates by 15 to 20 spots. He’s not a household name, but if the rookie keeps stringing together impressive performances, he’ll receive recognition sooner rather than later.

All stats and data via ESPN and PFF unless otherwise noted.