Initially I assumed first-rounder Makai Lemon would be Philadelphia's No. 2 across from DeVonta Smith. A few weeks from the start of the season, it's more likely it will be Dontayvion Wicks.
Maybe somebody will be throwing a pick at Hollywood Brown. That's not necessary. Brown is a journeyman at this point who averaged 37 yards playing with Patrick Mahomes last year in a receiver room gutted by injuries/suspension. He was on the field for Philadelphia's first exhibition when I'm not even sure Nick Sirianni showed up. It's Lemon, or it's Wicks (who was held out with every other possible starter).
Lemon has been dealing with a hamstring injury, which would be troubling anyway, but more so for a rookie who needs the reps in a new offense. Wicks, meanwhile, has been earning praise at camp, and the Eagles showed how much they liked him anyway by trading Green Bay fifth- and sixth-round picks and signing him to an extension.
Wicks never put up big numbers in Green Bay, with their annoying tendency to rotate receivers on and off the field. But in the games they actually did make him a significant part of the offense, he was productive.
Wicks saw at least 5 targets in a game 16 times in three seasons. In those 16 games he averaged 4 catches for 51 yards, with 8 touchdowns. Now he'll be with a Philly team that has tended to run things through just 2 wide receivers (granted, new offensive coordinator). For a guy who's not getting much interest in drafts, there's some nice upside there.
Table shows all of Wicks' 5-target games since being drafted.
| DONTAYVION WICKS WITH 5 TARGETS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Tgt | No | Rec | TD |
| 2024 | Min. | 13 | 5 | 78 | 2 |
| 2025 | Phi. | 8 | 4 | 38 | 0 |
| 2023 | T.B. | 7 | 6 | 97 | 0 |
| 2023 | Chi. | 7 | 6 | 61 | 2 |
| 2024 | at LAR | 7 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| 2024 | N.O. | 7 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| 2025 | at Det. | 7 | 6 | 94 | 2 |
| 2023 | N.O. | 6 | 4 | 45 | 0 |
| 2023 | at NYG | 6 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| 2024 | Hou. | 6 | 3 | 48 | 1 |
| 2024 | Chi. | 6 | 5 | 49 | 0 |
| 2025 | Was. | 6 | 4 | 44 | 0 |
| 2023 | LAC | 5 | 3 | 91 | 0 |
| 2024 | Mia. | 5 | 4 | 30 | 0 |
| 2024 | at Det. | 5 | 4 | 49 | 0 |
| 2024 | at Min. | 5 | 4 | 43 | 0 |
| Average | 6.7 | 4.1 | 51 | 0.5 | |
Don't draft him early; you don't need to. And maybe Lemon gets healthy and starts tearing things up. But I like the possibility of him contributing to a fantasy roster as a depth receiver. Should have some good games.
--Andy Richardson
