Cory's Corner: Next Man Up Mentality
With two receivers out, the Packers still have plenty of firepower.
The next man up attitude is cliche and a little boring, but when it comes to the Packers, it really rings true.
Christian Watson will likely be out until October nursing a torn ACL and now Jayden Reed will be out 6-8 weeks with a broken collarbone that he suffered against Washington.
That opens the door for Dontayvion Wicks. Plenty of people called the 6-foot-1, 206-pound athletic wideout “Alligator Arms” last year after having a drop rate of 20.4 percent after tallying six drops. His body language wasn’t good as he often had his head down trying to figure out what was happening.
However that has not carried over into this season as he has six catches on eight targets for 74 yards. Most importantly, the fifth round wideout from Virginia has zero drops.
Wicks is only averaging 34 yards a game, but he has a catch percentage of 75 percent and his average depth of target is tied for 18th among all pass catchers in the NFL at 18.3. When the ADOT is that high, it means that a receiver is getting good separation. Defensive backs cannot stay with Wicks for a long time and even if they can, his 33.5-inch wingspan can make the impossible seem possible.
It’s also a good thing that the Packers have two solid tight ends. Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave can work the middle while Wicks, Matthew Golden and Malik Heath carve up the outside.
In 142 career games, Wicks has averaged 4.17 targets. He had a high of 13 against Minnesota in Week 4 last year and a low of one four times. I would like to see him generate more consistency, which will also help out the running game.
Can Wicks be someone that Jordan Love can count on? Can he be that third down monster that always seems to come down with the ball at the biggest moments?
These are questions the Packers need answered. If he can be relied on for at least seven targets a game, Green Bay will probably make the receiver room a little less crowded after this season.
There is so much talent in that room that isn’t getting a chance to showcase it right now. The moment it was revealed that Reed would be out for a significant amount of time, many people started to panic and wonder what the future would hold for a team that just mortgaged their future on the present.
The Packers have the Browns, Cowboys and a bye week coming up. Cleveland might be one of the worst teams in football and the Dallas defense just allowed Russell Wilson of all people to have one of the best games of his career as the Cowboys came back to beat the Giants in overtime.
Now is the time to truly see what you have. Wicks has shown flashes but I want to see him in a more pronounced role and thanks to injuries, he will likely be the primary pass catcher.
The question is, how will he respond?
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (35)
DoubleJ
September 16, 2025 at 07:36 am
Getting Watson back soon will help out. It will probably take him a while to get up to speed but he can be used early on to open the intermediate part of the field. Not to mention by the end of the year having Watson and Golden on the field together could give the Packers the fastest of 2nd fastest pair of WRs on the field at the same time in the league.
LambeauPlain
September 16, 2025 at 07:41 am
Romeo, oh Romeo. Where art thou Romeo?
The leading Packer WR would like some respect. 5 receptions AVERAGING over 19 yards/per, 96 total yards, 20 yds after the catch and a TD. All are better than Wicks, another productive receiver. Better than Reed too.
Cheezehead72
September 16, 2025 at 08:11 am
Maybe Romeo read my comment during preseason about his drops and figured out that he is on the field to catch the ball.
LambeauPlain
September 16, 2025 at 09:19 am
I expect that was the reason. Tell Rom hello.
nagawicka
September 16, 2025 at 10:18 am
Maybe Doubs' clutch catch record carried over to this season, the man knows how to catch and has the video record to prove it.
Coldworld
September 16, 2025 at 08:26 am
Not every good player is a highlight reel. However, production is a better metric than the spectacular. Doubs is the guy who does the dirty work and keeps the WR game ticking over. Every team needs one of those.
The key now is finding ways to get Golden going. Let’s not repeat how we handled Watson as a rookie. Get golden the ball, manufacture it, get him confident and let him blossom: big plays will come once the easier catch and run receptions mount up. Right now I don’t see LaFleur doing a good job of that but repeating the Watson pattern.
T7Steve
September 16, 2025 at 09:12 am
Do you think Melton is an emergency receiver on game day? They could still throw him in there for some gadget plays too if they're worried about the receiver room depth.
Edit: I forgot Melton was hurt till I saw your comment below. How long is he out?
Coldworld
September 16, 2025 at 11:03 am
He was out on Monday. That’s all I know.
T7Steve
September 16, 2025 at 01:39 pm
He's done return duties too.
Coldworld
September 16, 2025 at 01:45 pm
Some, but not really punts and has not looked particularly natural. He likely goes straight back to jamming or gunning on on kicks when he’s healthy.
Packerpasty
September 16, 2025 at 10:01 am
exactly..scheme him open and it doesnt have to be a long ball...get him involved, he's going to be a very good player MLF has to get him the ball..
WestCoastPackerBacker
September 16, 2025 at 03:39 pm
I’d be thrilled if Golden could do what Watson did as a rookie. Over 600 yards and 9 scores (7 by air and 2 rushing). Watson scored more than all those first round receivers chosen ahead of him. So many spout the narrative that #12 didn’t trust the rookie WRs but both Watson and Doubs had good rookie seasons, both limited mainly by their injuries.
Leatherhead
September 16, 2025 at 11:16 am
Must Respect the Math. You can't look at the data and say that some other guy has delivered more.
We don't throw the ball that much, and we don't want to. When we do throw it, it's frequently off the play action to receivers who've worked their way downfield. If you're only throwing 25 passes in a game, then getting 5 targets is a pretty big chunk of those targets.
And Doubs basically is a veteran, who knows the offense, who's been practicing with Love for 3 years already, who stays available, and who will make some tough catches . AND he's making $3.5M so we should use him. I hope he catches 100 passes and signs a huge contract with another team in FA. 9 targets in 2 games isn't hardly enough for this guy.
porupack
September 16, 2025 at 08:06 am
RIght-o LambeauPlain...I was going to make similar comment...but yours is better.
porupack
September 16, 2025 at 08:14 am
Nonetheless, Cory's point is right...with injuries, Wicks and any other pass catcher will have their opp to prove themselves from a clump of mushrooms. There are no prince-WRs with inherent privileges, just earn it when its your turn. That cluster has potential to spur a lot of competition/determination to earn more targets.
nagawicka
September 16, 2025 at 10:17 am
Correct right up until Cory ONLY names Wicks as sole beneficiary of Reed's injury. But Wicks was already getting plenty of snaps: it's the backup WRs who'll have to step up. Mentioning Golden & Heath in passing only underscores the columns doesn't take the reader too far. Wicks was seasoned last year w plenty of snaps; he's *ALREADY* got his share of snaps, so it's no surprise at all his catch rate's improved. Point about 'next man up opportunities' is right, but Cory takes it no further, so how is it insightful.
Cheezehead72
September 16, 2025 at 08:14 am
So who do you believe they will bring off the PS Hardman or Neyor? Yes there is Sheppard but I believe it will be Hardman or Nayor.
I like nayor more because he did look good in preseason but my money is on Hardman due to his experience and being able to be a returner.
Coldworld
September 16, 2025 at 08:38 am
I firmly believe that Neyor has the chance to be a genuinely good NFL receiver. However, right now, I’m for elevating Hardman as I think Neyor needs a little polishing having had such a disrupted college experience (for example, get off technique at the line). Additionally, we need a returner and depth as a slot at this point, which is not him.
The coaches need to be focused on integrating Golden into the O more effectively and that needs to be his focus too. With Reed heading to IR, it’s more important to protect Golden from unnecessary injury as well.
We have Hardman, play him. The return results likely won’t be reduced and he also provides slot depth that, in addition to injury cover (especially since Melton is still out as of Monday), allows more flexibility to move Golden out of the slot in some situations while retaining speed in the slot.
nagawicka
September 16, 2025 at 10:22 am
Sheppard
Hardman I could see just as the vet, get him out there win, lose, or get injured, so Packers can move on if he doesn't pan out.
Coldworld
September 16, 2025 at 11:08 am
Shepherd is a possession WR. Not sure how he helps as we have Heath.
lecko
September 16, 2025 at 08:37 am
Cmon , "Cleveland might be one of the worst teams in football" is possibly not true, Looking at current defensive ranking Cleveland is no.1 in total yards. Henry had about 20 yards vs them. I agree ofence and special teams are bad, creating turnovers so many points are scored vs them.
Cheezehead72
September 16, 2025 at 08:51 am
The one thing that concerns me the most about the Browns is that very good run defense. The Packer OL has not been creating holes and run blocking well. If we cannot run the ball then it could be a long game.
LambeauPlain
September 16, 2025 at 09:22 am
It will help tremendously with Major Tom helping with "ground control".
Leatherhead
September 16, 2025 at 11:28 am
There are two types of teams at this point in the season: Teams that are organized enough to score points on offense, and those that aren't.Last week, winning teams had scores of 27, 31, 40, 52, 33, 26, 30, 33, 31, 41,........
Losing teams scored 18,10, 17, 19, 6....
The run blocking will improve during the season with practice, it always does. People aren't generally in mid-season form after 2 games. Those added practice and games improves you.
Packerpasty
September 16, 2025 at 10:02 am
maybe not the perfect team to get the running game going, they are stout against the run...that defense will cause trouble its up to MLF to come up with a game plan..
Snap the ball
September 16, 2025 at 09:04 am
Just throw to whoever is open everybody will have a great day at some point..
Don’t make it complicated .
Getting the running game going maybe with two backs at some point.
Snap the ball
September 16, 2025 at 09:06 am
Get a seal here and a seal here and run the ball in the alley .
Snap the ball
September 16, 2025 at 09:11 am
I know who I would put in the backfield as a lead blocker for Jacob’s for some power runs.
porupack
September 16, 2025 at 09:51 am
Corey?
BuckyBadger
September 16, 2025 at 09:45 am
The nice thing about having a bunch of a good but not great players is that there isn't as big of a fall off when one goes done. Reed's work in the slot will be missed but they will keep rolling. Kraft will probably get even more targets.
EricTorkelson
September 16, 2025 at 10:11 am
Cory ... Wicks already has responded, the coaches have always raved about Wicks ability to separate, I'm going to blame his drops last year on thinking to much rather than reacting. He looks more comfortable now. As far as third down monster they already have that in Monster Kraft!
NFLfan
September 16, 2025 at 10:48 am
Romeo, Wicks, Kraft, Jacobs, Heath, Shepard, Brooks can catch the ball.
I would temper enthusiasm and expectation re: long-term benefit from Watson's return.
Leatherhead
September 16, 2025 at 11:03 am
I think the team can overcome this. Reed put about 40-45 snaps/ game in, and was targeted about 5 times, and caught about 4.
The snaps are easy to make up. You can put Golden out there for 30 snaps or more. You can let Heath play a few more snaps. Musgrave. So the snaps you can make up. The targets are even easier to make up. All you have to do is throw one more time to Kraft, once more to Golden, once more to Jacobs/Wilson, once more to Wicks, once more to Doubs.
Reed messed himself up making a freakin' amazing catch. I hope he comes back and makes some more plays for us......next year. Given the injury, I think he'd be unavailable during the stretch run and there's plenty of good reasons to completely recover for the 2026 season.
WRs Under Contract for 2026: Watson. Reed. Golden. Wicks. That's not bad bunch of pass catchers, especially when you add in Kraft and Musgrave.
So, we can survive the Reed injury, and this truly is an opportunity for one of these receivers to step up.
WestCoastPackerBacker
September 16, 2025 at 03:43 pm
Savion Williams is also under contract for next year. Watson, Reed, Golden, Williams, Wicks.
GregC
September 16, 2025 at 11:30 am
I'm glad Wicks has looked so sharp after missing most of training camp with that calf injury. I'm not sure why Cory picked him as the main beneficiary of Reed's injury, though. They are very different players. Reed is much faster than Wicks, but Wicks is more elusive and better able to get open on his own, rather than having to be schemed open. I think Matthew Golden will benefit most from Reed's absence, and we should see a lot more of Savion Williams, who is unlike Reed physically but can be that third receiver, taking end-arounds and sometimes lining up in the backfield.