Matthew Golden Is The Best Green Bay Packers Receiver In 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts

Packers WR Matthew Golden offers elite speed and upside for fantasy football, but his rookie outlook carries risk with boom-or-bust potential in 2025.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (22) catches a pass during warmups prior to the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Matthew Golden brings blazing 4.29 speed and big-play potential to the Green Bay Packers after a breakout year at Texas, but his raw route-running and timing issues raise questions about his immediate fantasy impact. While his ceiling as a deep threat is undeniable, Golden’s rookie season may be defined more by inconsistency than reliability.

Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers

The Houston Cougars gave Golden 17 starts over his first 19 games in 2022 and 2023, resulting in two quiet receiving seasons (38/584/7 and 38/404/6). He made more significant plays (15.4 YPC) in his freshman year than in the following season (10.4 YPC). A foot injury in his sophomore campaign led to three missed games.

After transferring to Texas, Golden made 16 starts with career highs in catches (58), receiving yards (987), and touchdowns (9). He gained an impressive 17.0 yards per catch. In his college career, Golden returned 28 kickoffs for 722 yards and two scores (25.8 yards per return).

Projected team scoring and each team’s top three players in ADP. Is Matthew Golden undervalued? pic.twitter.com/FLyxWmZhpR

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The foundation of Golden’s route running has flaws at each level. He must work on his salesmen skills while showing more fight and desire at the top of his release. His lack of timing can lead to poor hand positioning when the ball arrives more quickly than expected. He ran a 4.29 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, showcasing his deep speed.

Last year, Texas got Golden the ball many times well beyond the line of scrimmage, but Quinn Ewers rarely hit him in stride, forcing him to make challenging catches coming back to the ball. With the ball in his hands, Golden lacks the vision to be a top run-after-the-catch player despite showing success returning kicks.

Matthew Golden 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook, Projections, Rankings

The Packers will start his development as an outside home run threat, but he does have the tools to play all over the field. I don’t see enough in his resume to warrant a first-round selection, but a team's need is a team's need. At the very least, Golden will get better with experience.

I know Green Bay fans are excited about finally drafting a wide receiver in the first round, but they overpaid for his early skill set.  Golden ranks 49th at wideout according to ADP, requiring him to score about 150.00 fantasy points in a PPR format to reach par for his price point. I see many peaks and valleys for him, making Golden a challenging player to time in the fantasy market.

Golden is currently the WR45 in our 2025 PPR Rankings, a few slots ahead of teammate Jayden Reed.