Dontayvion Wicks, WR Virginia: Updated 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Final draft evaluation for Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks

The Virginia Cavaliers have struggled on offense, but wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks still has a chance to go in the top 100 selections of the 2023 NFL Draft. The redshirt junior recently accepted an invite to the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Below is my updated and final scouting report on Wicks as a prospect.

You can view my summer evaluation on Dontayvion Wicks here.

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Dontayvion Wicks, WR Virginia: Updated 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior outside receiver from Plaquemine, La.

Background: Wicks was a three-star recruit from Plaquemine High School in Plaquemine, La. in the class of 2019. He was the No. 679 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 788 for On3.com. Wicks was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 78 grade out of 100. As a high school junior, he helped Plaquemine win the district championship. He also played basketball in high school.

2021 Production: 12 games, 57 receptions, 1,203 yards, 9 touchdowns

2020 Production: Medical Redshirt Year

2019 Production: 10 games, 3 receptions, 61 yards, 1 touchdown

Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a season-ending foot injury before the season in 2020

Awards: 2021 First-Team All-ACC

Pros: Ideal arm length and wingspan, deploys hesitation moves, arm fakes, and excellent footwork to manipulate defensive backs, sets up defenders for double moves, rocks defenders to sleep with his footwork, varies route speed, generates separation with his route running, some elusiveness in the open field, finds the holes in zone coverage, fluid lower half, sinks his hips at the top of routes, few manufactured touches, willing blocker who buys his teammates time and space, quick snap at the top of his route to create separation, quick into and out of breaks, good ball tracking on downfield throws, extends to make catches outside of his frame, adjusts to the ball well when it’s in the air, not a player defenders want to see one-on-one in space, short-area agility, foot speed and fluidity helps generate clean releases against press, loose athlete

Cons: Drops rose to catastrophic levels in 2022, most drops are on routine catches, mental mistakes are jarring, three fumbles in the past two years, contested catch rate plummeted from average to horrendous from 2021 to 2022, minimal experience in the slot in 2022, no significant special teams experience since 2019, lacks home run speed, speed doesn’t consistently threaten corners vertically, speed might be concerning at his size, lacks strength to sustain blocks and his technique is underdeveloped, instances where he needs to show more urgency in his release, lacks burst and explosiveness, not truly twitchy, lacks the play strength to survive contact as a runner and generate YAC, agility to cut, stop of a dime, and juke but he rarely gets away clean, needs to use his hands and arms more when pressed, struggles to play through contact in his stem

Overview: Wicks is unofficially listed at 6'2", 208 lbs. He set Virginia’s single-season receiving yards record in 2021 with 1,203 yards, surpassing the 1,190-yard standard set by future first round pick and NFL All-Pro Herman Moore in 1990. The redshirt junior has some experience playing in the slot, but he primarily lines up as an outside X or Z receiver. Wicks has ideal arm length and a large wingspan. He deploys hesitation moves, arm fakes, and excellent footwork to manipulate defensive backs. Wicks is a master at setting up defenders for double moves. He varies his route speed and rocks defenders to sleep with his footwork. Wicks generates most of his separation with his route running. He showcases snappy cuts at the top of his route, quick transitions into and out of breaks, and good sink in his hips at the top of his routes. Wicks has good ball tracking on downfield throws, adjusts to the ball well when it’s in the air, and extends to make catches outside of his frame. He has the foot speed and fluidity to generate clean releases against press coverage. Wicks displays some elusiveness in the open field thanks to a loose lower half and short-area agility. He’s a willing blocker who buys his teammates time and space. Wicks’ drop issue rose to catastrophic levels in 2022, and most of them came on routine catches. The mental mistakes are jarring. Wicks only has minimal experience in the slot in 2022 and no significant special teams experience since 2019. He lacks home run speed and doesn’t consistently threaten corners vertically. The former three-star recruit lacks burst and explosiveness and isn’t truly twitchy. Wicks lacks the play strength to survive contact as a runner and generate yards after the catch. He struggles to play through contact in his stem and needs to use his hands and arms more when pressed. There are instances where Wicks attempts to slow-play routes, which leads to him not generating significant separation. He needs to show more urgency early in his routes instead of buying time to read the defensive back. 

While Wicks has committed numerous unforced errors and directly damaged his own draft stock, Brennan Armstrong and Tony Elliott bear some responsibility for the former All-ACC receiver’s struggles. Armstrong’s accuracy, ball placement, and decision-making have declined significantly from their 2021 peaks. Elliott, who previously served as the offensive coordinator at Clemson, inherited one of the nation’s most explosive offenses only to have it implode once he began making changes. The hope is Wicks will shake his case of the drops and return to his 2021 form once he’s distanced himself from Virginia’s program. Scouts and evaluators will have the chance to see if that’s possible when Wicks takes the field at the Senior Bowl.

Overall, Wicks excels at generating separation with his route running and footwork, but he’s suffered from an abnormally high number of drops in 2022. He also lacks ideal speed to threaten defenses over the top. He could still be a top 100 selection depending on how teams evaluate Wicks’ drop concerns and struggles in Virginia’s crumbling offense.

Role & Scheme Fit: X receiver in a spread 11 personnel scheme with frequent 10 personnel sets

Round Projection: Late Third to Mid Fourth

Player Comparison: N/A

Submitted: 11-17-22