Matthew Golden Drafted By Green Bay Packers: Fantasy Football Impact

The Green Bay Packers secured the services of former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden with the No. 23 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden (2) catches a long pass for a first down near the end zone in the fourth quarter as the Texas Longhorns play the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 1, 2025. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the No. 23 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers selected Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden.

A #Packers WR in Round 1!!!!! Green Bay is taking Texas WR Matthew Golden at No. 23.

FINALLY. pic.twitter.com/CIdIxlZiRe

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 25, 2025

Matthew Golden Scouting Report:

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 his year (10.4 TPC). 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).

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.

Matthew Golden ran a 4.29

But history says speed like that...

Bust after bust after bust

This is the WR trap teams fall for every year

Watch before tonight’s NFL Draft: https://t.co/02Q33oeE2E#NFLDraft2025 | #NFLDraft | #DraftDay pic.twitter.com/wcgzxUBNpQ

— Sharp Football Analysis (@SharpFBAnalysis) April 24, 2025

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 sufficient experience with his vision to be a top run-after-the-catch player despite showing success returning kicks.

At the next level, an NFL team 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 this year, but a team need is a team need. At the very least, Golden will get better with experience.

Matthew Golden Fantasy Football Outlook:

The Packers invested a first-round pick in a wide receiver for the first time since 2002. Matthew Golden will be a new shiny weapon for signal-caller Jordan Love. Golden will join a crowded yet unspectacular wide receiver room, featuring Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and more. Though Green Bay boasts a ton of talent at the position, none of them are true WR1 options. Golden should emerge as the WR2 behind Reed barring injury.

Despite being one of the top wideouts selected in this year's draft class, Golden is a very polarizing prospect who may struggle in his debut season at the pro level. He has the speed but lacks the vision to be a yard-after-catch monster. Although the Chiefs were able to figure it out with Xavier Worthy last year, history suggests that these speedy wideouts will struggle in the NFL. Opposing cornerbacks are much quicker and the tempo of the game is much different than at the college level.

The Packers underachieved passing the ball in 2024, which was an area of strength the previous season. Green Bay ranked third in wide receiver yards per catch (14.34), but they only caught 187 passes for 2,681 yards and 19 touchdowns on 306 targets. They caught only 61.1% of their chances.

Golden will have the opportunity to prove himself but fantasy managers will want to employ a wait-and-see approach before investing heavy draft capital into the former Longhorn. Despite having the versatility to line up on the outside or in the slot, it's tough to envison Golden becoming a PPR machine in his rookie campaign. Be sure to following training camp and preseason reports, especially given the competition at the WR position in Green Bay.

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