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Texas WR Matthew Golden Makes Major Announcement Ahead of NFL Draft

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Apr 6, 2025 8:46 PM ET

Texas Longhorns star Matthew Golden is shooting up NFL draft boards across the country, which led to telling decision by the young wide receiver on Sunday, April 6.

The 6-foot, 195-pound junior made himself eligible for the draft following a season in which he tallied 58 catches for 987 yards and nine touchdowns, helping elevate his team into the College Football Playoff. The move has proven shrewd, as most analysts regard the 2025 class of receivers as a step or two below the group that came out last year at the position.

As such, Golden has projected as a first-round pick since mocks started publishing. Now, with the draft less than three weeks away, some are pushing Golden as perhaps the first wideout to come off the board -- ahead of even Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan.

Whatever information Golden and his team have amassed about his draft status over the recent weeks led to the announcement of a significant decision on Sunday, which indicates the young receiver is fairly certain of a high draft position on the first night of the proceedings.

Source: Texas WR Matthew Golden has accepted an invitation to attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.

Golden in the conversation to be the first WR drafted.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) April 7, 2025

"Source: Texas WR Matthew Golden has accepted an invitation to attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay," Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote on X. "Golden in the conversation to be the first WR drafted."

Attending draft night can be a precarious decision, as players can fall further than expected. That can put them in an embarrassing spotlight as they sit in front of a massive live crowd and a huge television audience waiting to hear their names called, garnering more negative attention with each passing pick.

A recent example was QB Will Levis, who fell all the way to the beginning of the second round just a couple of years ago. Further back was QB Aaron Rodgers, who dropped into the late first round of his draft. As such, players don't typically attend the ceremony unless they are confident a franchise will select them in the first round.

Teams including the Las Vegas Raiders (No. 6 overall), Denver Broncos (No. 20 overall) and Los Angeles Chargers (No. 22 overall) are in the mix to potentially select a receiver with a first-round pick.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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