GREEN BAY, Wis. – The time for talk is almost over. Green Bay Packers training camp is one week away. Projection either will or will not turn into production.
With that as a backdrop, Pro Football Focus picked the best offseason decision for every team. For the Packers, it was selecting receiver Matthew Golden in the first round of the draft.
Golden’s 4.29 speed in the 40 is etched in the mind of every Packers fan. With Christian Watson out with a torn ACL, Golden at least will provide a deep threat as a rookie. Given Jordan Love’s proclivity to throw the long ball, picking Golden at No. 23 overall was a meshing of best player available meeting position of need.
Noting Golden’s elite great grade on deep passes, PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote: “While that skill-set is helpful, Golden should also be able to threaten safeties enough for Jordan Love to more effectively attack the intermediate range, where he ranked 35th in PFF passing grade last season.”
After back-to-back seasons of 38 receptions at Houston, Golden set career highs last season at Texas with 58 receptions, 987 yards, 17.0 yards per catch and nine touchdowns.
Golden became more productive as the season progressed. He caught 29 passes for 417 yards in the first 10 games. During the final six games, he caught 29 passes for 570 yards. That includes eight catches for 162 yards in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia and seven catches for 149 yards and one touchdown in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Arizona State.
“The more comfortable he got, the more we were able to move him around,” Texas receivers coach Chris Jackson, who played for the Packers, told Packers On SI. “With his unique skill-set, we were able to move him around in the red zone and put him on a lot of the catch points and the double-move points.”
Golden is more than just a deep threat, though he’s quite good in that role. In Texas’ three playoff games, Golden caught 6-of-9 deep passes for 190 yards. No other player had more than three catches.
Overall, according to PFF, Golden caught 13-of-22 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. Of the 88 draft-eligible receivers who were targeted at least 13 times, his 59.1 percent catch rate was second-best in the nation.
“Certainly, he’s going to be a speed threat right away, right?” general manager Brian Gutekunst said after drafting Golden. “He is one of those guys that covering him from a man perspective is going to be extremely tough on teams. So, when we get to some of those third-down things where people are trying to mug us up and we need somebody to get open fast, he can do that.”
Golden had a strong set of offseason practices. In five practices open to reporters, he was not targeted on any deep passes but showed an ability to get open and flashed excellent hands.
“Definitely want to go get that (Lombardi) Trophy, man,” Golden told KPRC-TV’s Aaron Wilson recently. “That’s the question mark we got in our team room is just filling in that blank. That’s the last thing we need in that team room and, for us, that’s all we talk about at practice is getting that trophy. So, we’re doing everything we can each and every day to get to that point and just letting the rest be built up by itself.”
Replacing Watson – for however long he remains out this season – was critical. Last season, including the playoff loss to the Eagles, the Packers went 1-4 when Watson was inactive or missed most of the game. They were 5-1 when he had 50-plus receiving yards.
In part because of the need to replace Watson, Golden was the team’s first first-round receiver since 2002.
“It’s definitely unique,” he said at rookie camp. “I feel like that’s what made that pick even more important to me, just understanding the history behind it, so definitely thankful to be in this position. I’m looking forward to what’s in front of me.”
In Part 4 of our #Packers training camp previews, it's the receivers.
The big battle? Playing time.
The game-changer? Jayden Reed
The X-factor?
The under-the-radar player?
The key to success?https://t.co/ZBsGaLTwEx
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 16, 2025