
Draft Note by John Paulsen
After a reportedly great training camp, Golden's rookie year was forgettable–4.2 points per game in 13 games, 29 receptions, and zero touchdowns. The underlying metrics are average across the board: 52nd-percentile route grade, 47th-percentile YPRR, 55th-percentile ESPN OVERALL score. The one standout is an 83rd-percentile contested catch rate, suggesting he can win in traffic even if he can’t separate consistently. The reason to pay attention in Year 2 is mostly situational. Green Bay has 135 vacated WR targets representing 50.9% of WR volume–the same enormous vacancy that makes Christian Watson and Jayden Reed so compelling. With Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks both gone, the Green Bay WR room has real openings behind Watson and Reed, and Golden is the most likely candidate to step into a top-three role in Matt LaFleur’s offense. The moderate rookie metrics mean this is mostly an opportunity play rather than a talent endorsement, but with a high-end WR5 ADP, the draft capital is low enough that even a partial breakout might make him fantasy-relevant.
Matthew Golden
- WR
- , Green Bay Packers
- 23
- 190 lbs
- 6' 0"
- Texas
- 119
- 3
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Adam Schefter
·Dec 18, 2025 · 5:10 PM EST
2026 Draft note
After a reportedly great training camp, Golden's rookie year was forgettable–4.2 points per game in 13 games, 29 receptions, and zero touchdowns. The underlying metrics are average across the board: 52nd-percentile route grade, 47th-percentile YPRR, 55th-percentile ESPN OVERALL score. The one standout is an 83rd-percentile contested catch rate, suggesting he can win in traffic even if he can’t separate consistently. The reason to pay attention in Year 2 is mostly situational. Green Bay has 135 vacated WR targets representing 50.9% of WR volume–the same enormous vacancy that makes Christian Watson and Jayden Reed so compelling. With Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks both gone, the Green Bay WR room has real openings behind Watson and Reed, and Golden is the most likely candidate to step into a top-three role in Matt LaFleur’s offense. The moderate rookie metrics mean this is mostly an opportunity play rather than a talent endorsement, but with a high-end WR5 ADP, the draft capital is low enough that even a partial breakout might make him fantasy-relevant.
2026 Strength of Schedule - GB
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | W18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 @MIN | 19 @NYJ | 30 ATL | 16 @TB | 31 CHI | 32 DAL | 29 @DET | 11 CAR | 22 @NE | 1 MIN | BYE | 18 @LAR | 7 @NO | 6 BUF | 27 MIA | 31 @CHI | 4 HOU | 29 DET |
Schedule difficulty based on schedule-adjusted, positional defensive ranking. Top DEF = 1, bottom DEF = 32.
Game Stats
| Week | Opp | Rec | RecYds | RecTD | Tgts | YPR | RuAtt | RuYds | RuTD | Fum | YPC | STD | 0.5 PPR | PPR | Snaps | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DET | 2 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 8.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.6 | 2.60 | 3.6 | 23/48 | 47.9% |
| 2 | WAS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 1.5 | 1.50 | 1.5 | 40/68 | 58.8% |
| 3 | @CLE | 4 | 52 | 0 | 4 | 13.00 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 6.1 | 8.10 | 10.1 | 46/65 | 70.8% |
| 4 | @DAL | 5 | 58 | 0 | 6 | 11.60 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 | 6.3 | 8.80 | 11.3 | 49/83 | 59.0% |
| 5 | BYE | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6 | CIN | 3 | 86 | 0 | 5 | 28.67 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 8.00 | 10.2 | 11.70 | 13.2 | 42/61 | 68.9% |
| 7 | @ARI | 4 | 37 | 0 | 4 | 9.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.7 | 5.70 | 7.7 | 41/56 | 73.2% |
| 8 | @PIT | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.4 | 1.90 | 3.4 | 42/64 | 65.6% |
| 9 | CAR | 2 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 4.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.9 | 1.90 | 2.9 | 24/65 | 36.9% |
O
Injury Details (w10)
Status: Out Injury: Shoulder | PHI | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 11 | @NYG | 1 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 24.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.4 | 2.90 | 3.4 | 19/55 | 34.5% |
O
Injury Details (w12)
Status: Out Injury: Shoulder/wrist | MIN | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
O
Injury Details (w13)
Status: Out Injury: Wrist | @DET | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 14 | CHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | - | 0.0 | 5/53 | 9.4% |
| 15 | @DEN | 3 | 55 | 0 | 4 | 18.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.5 | 7.00 | 8.5 | 23/66 | 34.8% |
| 16 | @CHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 | 0.4 | 0.40 | 0.4 | 22/72 | 30.6% |
| 17 | BAL | 1 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.2 | 1.70 | 2.2 | 25/47 | 53.2% |
| 18 | @MIN | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 8.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.8 | 1.30 | 1.8 | 51/51 | 100.0% |
| Per game | 2.07 | 25.79 | 0 | 3.14 | 12.45 | 0.71 | 3.50 | 0 | 0 | 4.90 | 2.93 | 3.96 | 5.00 | 32.29/61.00 | 53.12% | |
| Totals | 29 | 361 | 0 | 44 | 12.45 | 10 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 4.90 | 41 | 55.5 | 70 | 452/854 | 53.12% | |






