Packers Rookie Matthew Golden Emerging as a Playmaker with Rapid Improvement

The Green Bay Packers have to be pleased with the progress of 2025 first-round pick, Matthew Golden. The Texas alum continues to be more productive with each passing game. While he still has work to do before he becomes the team’s number one wideout, Packers rookie Matthew Golden is emerging as a playmaker due to his rapid improvement.

Packers Rookie Matthew Golden Emerging as a Playmaker: A Slow Start

Golden got off to a bit of a slow start in his first two games. He caught two passes in his NFL debut against the Lions and then failed to catch a pass on two targets against the Commanders in Week 2.

But over the last three games, Golden has been more productive and more involved in the offense. Against the Bengals this past Sunday, Golden caught three passes for a career-high 86 yards. His shortest completion in this game resulted in a 20-yard gain. The rookie also ran the ball twice for 16 yards on jet sweeps. That means he gained 102 total yards against Cincinnati.

As with all rookies, there is a learning curve. But with each game, Golden appears to be more comfortable in the offense and more confident in his ability to make plays.

“I know I’m capable of anything,” Golden said after the win over the Bengals. “That’s just the mindset I got. There can never be too much on my plate. I got all that confidence in myself. But the most opportunities I get, I’m going to make the most of them.”

He also sees his greater understanding of what he needs to do in the offense which helped create those splash plays for big gains. “Definitely, getting the safety to back up a little bit,” Golden said. “I felt like he was over the top of me and so I broke my route off, and Jordan gave me a good ball.”

Getting Noticed

Golden’s teammates have noticed the improvement in his game. “I was just telling him back there, I said, ‘You made a lot of good plays today,’” veteran running back Josh Jacobs said. “You see improvement from him every week. Every week, you see his role getting a little bit bigger, and it’s not even necessarily that his role is getting bigger in the offense. He’s just getting open and making plays. So, when you’ve got a guy like that, especially who has that type of speed and has that type of ability in open space, we’ve got to find ways to get him the ball.”

Quarterback Jordan Love agreed. “I think he made some big-time plays today. I think both really explosive plays, with the go ball down the sideline and then that last play there to him.” Love added, “I think he’s a guy that we’re going to keep trying to get going and keep finding ways to get him the ball, because he’s done some really good things. It’s always about trying to spread it around, but he’s definitely a very explosive playmaker and just got to keep finding ways to get it to him.”

Packers Rookie Matthew Golden Emerging as a Playmaker: A Bright Future

The future should be bright for Golden if he continues to improve. However, don’t expect him to be the team’s wide receiver one so quickly. First, the return of Christian Watson will likely happen this week against the Cardinals or the following week. That means Love will have another dangerous downfield target to throw the ball to.

Head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed the offense will likely continue to feature receiver by committee. “I know everybody wants us to force-feed guys the ball, but that’s really not how we’ve done it around here and I don’t plan on changing that,” LaFleur told reporters. “That’s the beauty of having a lot of guys that we have a lot of confidence in. We have confidence that we can put anybody in the situation and try to have plays off of plays. A lot of it is dictated off the coverages, however teams are playing us, and the quarterback’s role is to make sure the ball’s going in the right place based on what the defense presents. And whoever gets those catches, they get them.”

Still, because of Golden’s strong hands, speed and ability to get downfield, his role should continue to expand over the course of the season. He may not be getting targets like Davante Adams did in 2022, at least not this season, but he has shown the potential to eventually become a wide receiver one. In the meantime, it will be fun to watch his progress.