Ron Swanson wrote:Don't get me wrong, Wicks is incredibly crisp on his breaks and already looks like a dude that can run the whole route tree. I think there's a difference between that and having the kind of freakish first step of a guy like Davante though (not that we should in any way hold that against him). Probably the biggest eye test thing for me is how, unlike Watson who kinda just falls awkwardly at the first sign of contact, Wicks has great balance and body control. The lack of quick burst and endline speed kinda limits his YAC potential, but you saw it on that catch & run TD vs. Atlanta. The DB just straight up whiffed trying to wrap him up at the waist lol. He's definitely a guy you need to tackle low.
I'm not sure Davante has a "freakish" first step as much as he's super super refined and his footwork is impeccable. FWIW, Wicks graded out better than Davante when it came to his explosion score in RAS. He was .5 inches off in vertical, better in the broad jump, and beat Davante in both his 10 and 20 yard splits on the 40. I think the top end speed is valid, but that's not a particular strength of Davante's either.
Davante is Davante because of the work he put into his route running, not because he's got some athletic advantage IMO. When it comes to these other elite receivers, he's pretty far down the pecking order on this stuff. You listen to all of these other players talk about him, and it's ALWAYS about his deception and combinations. His "release" bag.
