• The Packers are taking a new approach: For the first time in 23 years, Green Bay drafted a wide receiver in the first round. Now, that player — Matthew Golden — is expected to propel their passing attack.

• Golden has what it takes to lead Green Bay’s WR room: The Texas wideout registered a 12.7-yard average depth of target in 2024 and logged elite PFF grades at both intermediate (93.0) and short (90.9) receiving depths.

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Estimated Reading Time: 6minutes

Matthew Golden earned glowing review after glowing review in Green Bay Packers training camp.

Shifty feet, elite speed and hands so good you could throw a greased watermelon from a moving car and he’d still come down with it. And that’s a positive sign, because when you’re a franchise’s first wide receiver to be selected in the first round since 2002, there is going to be immense pressure.

The Packers took Golden 23rd overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, despite his limited sample size in college at both Texas and Houston (175 collegiate targets). Considering that Christian Watson is set to miss a chunk of the season while he recovers from a torn ACL and that Golden ran a 4.29-second 40-yard dash time, it is easy to assume that the rookie will be the plug-and-play guy for taking the top off a defense.

But he may just be the plug-and-play guy for everything.

Since 2022, Green Bay’s receiving corps has featured players for whom distinctive roles have been carved out: Romeo Doubs is the possession guy, Jayden Reed does most of the jet sweep stuff, Watson serves as the deep threat, and so on. It’s the long way of saying that the Packers haven’t had a true No. 1 alpha receiver since Davante Adams.

They do now. Despite Golden often being pigeonholed as Jordan Love’s new deep threat, the Texas wideout registered a 12.7-yard average depth of target in 2024, comfortably mid-range for receivers with at least 50 targets, and logged elite PFF grades at both intermediate (93.0) and short (90.9) receiving depths. Of his 41 catches last season, 14 came on short routes, 12 came on intermediate routes and seven were by way of deep shots.

It shows a spread of work for Golden, and that while he will absolutely be taking the top off a defense — he logged a 96.0 PFF receiving grade on routes 20 yards and over last season — he will not be limited to that work, nor should Packers head coach Matt LaFleur restrict his new pass catcher in that way.

While Golden did primarily line up outside at Texas last season (299 snaps), he also logged 93 slot snaps. At 6 feet and 195 pounds, Golden isn’t going to win by being physical. His physical profile is similar to that of Ravens pass catcher Zay Flowers (5-foot-9 and 182 pounds), and Flowers logged more than 60% of his snaps out wide in 2024. Flowers has had back-to-back 100-plus target seasons since entering the NFL in 2023. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison but rather a demonstration that size does not limit a receiver if they can get open with technique or speed and their hands are good. There is no reason why Golden can’t replicate Flowers’ early NFL success and instantly become the go-to playmaker for Love and have the Green Bay passing attack flow through him.

Since becoming the heir to Aaron Rodgers‘ quarterback throne in Green Bay, Love has not had a single receiver command 100 targets, and the Packers haven’t had a 100-plus-target guy since Adams’ monstrous 166 in 2021. The closest Love has come is giving Doubs 93 targets.

Speaking of Love, the Packers signal-caller endured an injury-plagued 2024 campaign but still managed a solid 77.7 PFF overall grade. That’s a step down from his 83.0 mark in 2023, when he lit up defenses down the stretch and into the playoffs. Love also logged only 16 big-time throws in 2024 after racking up 34 in 2023. The jury is still out on where Love’s consistent level lies — or even if he has one. But if he can put together a season squarely in the middle of his 2023 run and his 2024 campaign, with hot streaks like he has displayed, then the Packers have a quarterback with whom they can win — and one who can get the ball to Golden consistently at all three levels of the field.

Love’s numbers would have been better had Green Bay receivers not fared so poorly. The Packers’ pass catchers, ironically, had a staggering 28 drops last season. While Golden has battled drop issues in the past, posting a 13.3% drop rate in 2023, he recorded just two drops in 2024. If the reports out of camp are anything to go by, those special hands are going to catch a lot of Jordan Love’s passes.

The Packers’ receivers have been fine, but their milquetoast outcomes against the best secondaries in the biggest games are a problem the aggregate cannot overcome. Only Reed (76.5) and running back Josh Jacobs (91.1) earned a better-than-average PFF overall grade in the Packers’ wild-card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. That deficiency is the reason they drafted Golden as early as they did after previously eschewing the position in the first round.

The media narrative around the Packers’ approach has become comfortable — they’re a group effort, and everybody has a role to play. That is set to stop in 2025, as Golden has everything in place to collect more than 100 targets and go over 1,000 yards as Green Bay’s new leading man.