Fantasy Fallout: Packers Opt for Matthew Golden

Josh Jacobs asked for it; the Packers attempted to find an answer. Green Bay selected Texas WR Matthew Golden with the No. 23 overall pick, their first time taking a WR in Round 1 since 2002. Golden will immediately compete with Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed for targets with Christian Watson on the mend. Let’s dig into what we can expect from the former Longhorn in Year 1.

MATTHEW GOLDEN

• Golden had a productive freshman season with 38 catches for 584 yards and seven touchdowns at Houston while playing behind Tank Dell. He played nine games as a sophomore while dealing with a turf toe injury and still notched a 24% Dominator Rating (a stat that measures what percentage of a team’s overall pass game was controlled by one receiver) before transferring to Texas for his final college season. In Austin, Golden had significantly tougher target competition but led the Longhorns in receiving yards (987) and receiving TDs (nine). He runs a 4.29 40-yard dash and is widely regarded as a top-three WR (Tet McMillan is his WR1 competition) in this class. Lance Zierlein compared him to Chris Olave, and scouts point to his dependability, polish, and route-running savvy as positives. Most numbers-based analysis will point to McMillan as the better prospect, but Golden’s film evidently dazzles for him to earn such strong draft capital. Golden will be given immediate opportunities in the league as a first-round pick, and his refined game should make him a fantasy-relevant player in Year 1.