Nobody seems to think Matthew Golden is a bust anymore.
After an admittedly uninspiring rookie season, Golden has bounced back in impressive fashion this year. With 30 catches and 501 yards, he has not only surpassed his 2025 output totals, his 2026 yardage is better than any wide receiver taken ahead of him in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Through six weeks, the Panthers’ Tetairoa McMillan is Golden’s next closest competition, totaling 471 yards so far this season. McMillan is by far the most productive receiver from the 2025 class overall, though, after putting up 1,076 yards as a rookie.
Emeka Egbuka is next on the list with 240 yards so far this season, though I’d argue he deserves a bit of a pass considering his quarterback has been out for most of the season. It’ll be interesting to see the extent to which his stats rebound when Baker Mayfield returns from his thumb injury.
Travis Hunter is a distant fourth among 2025 first round wide receivers, though he too gets a pass on account of his significant other duties with the Jaguars. And it’s not like he isn’t doing interesting things! Just last Sunday he became the second player in the 21st century to catch a touchdown pass and an interception on the same day. The only other person to do it is Brian Dawkins, who caught his touchdown on a fake punt — hardly the same circumstances as Hunter.
And none of this is to say Golden couldn’t be even better. He could! He leads the NFL in drops (according to Pro Football Focus charting) and could certainly stand to clean up that part of his game. But even still, he’s tied for third in the NFL with nine catches of 20 or more yards. (Christian Watson, for what it’s worth, is tied for the league lead with 10 such catches.)
It all adds up to an exciting redemption tour for Golden. He may have been on the outside looking in for 2025, but he’s at the center of the Packers’ offense in 2026.
See More:
* [By the Numbers](/by-the-numbers)
* [Green Bay Packers Analysis](/green-bay-packers-analysis)