Player
Matthew Golden
WR · Packers
A 1st-round pick with this volume profile means GB either intentionally throttled his usage in a committee system or the coaching staff was still figuring out how to use him — both scenarios have different Year 2 implications for fantasy and real football.
Golden's 2025 regular season: 29 catches, 361 yards, 0 TDs in 14 games — carrying the deepest average target depth among GB's WRs.
TrendGreen Bay drafted Matthew Golden 23rd overall in 2025 — their first 1st-round WR since Javon Walker in 2002 — and his regular-season counting numbers (29 rec / 361 yds / 0 TDs across 14 games) read like a depth piece, not a top-25 pick.
The context: he plays in a committee-heavy passing room. His target share peaked at 30.0% in Week 18 vs MIN (the only week he cracked 20%); on the regular season he averaged just 12.4% of GB's targets. He didn't catch his first career TD until the Wild Card playoff game against Chicago.
Golden receiving yards by week (2025 regular season)
| Week | Rec Yds |
|---|---|
| W1 | 16 |
| W2 | 0 |
| W3 | 52 |
| W4 | 58 |
| W6 | 86 |
| W7 | 37 |
| W8 | 4 |
| W9 | 9 |
| W11 | 24 |
| W14 | 0 |
| W15 | 55 |
| W16 | 0 |
| W17 | 12 |
| W18 | 8 |
Why it matters. A 1st-round pick with this volume profile means GB either intentionally throttled his usage in a committee system or the coaching staff was still figuring out how to use him — both scenarios have different Year 2 implications for fantasy and real football.
Air yards tell a different story: 552 air yards on 44 targets — a 12.6-yard aDOT, top-35 in the league.
SplitGolden's role is the field-stretcher, and the air-yards data confirms it. 552 total air yards on 44 regular-season targets works out to a 12.6 average depth of target — placing him in the top 35 among 112 WRs with 30+ targets in 2025 (league avg: 11.1 yards).
The gap between his 86 receiving yards in Week 6 vs CIN (just 3 catches) and his 81 air yards in Week 2 vs WAS (0-for-2) is the rookie deep-WR story in miniature: when the ball connects, it's a chunk; when it doesn't, it's a 0.
Highest air-yards games (2025 regular season)
| Wk | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Air Yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | CIN | 5 | 3 | 86 | 88 |
| 2 | WAS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 |
| 4 | DAL | 6 | 5 | 58 | 64 |
| 11 | NYG | 3 | 1 | 24 | 64 |
| 15 | DEN | 4 | 3 | 55 | 69 |
| 17 | BAL | 3 | 1 | 12 | 57 |
Why it matters. A 12.6-yard aDOT means defenders are playing off-coverage against Golden by design; it also means his catch numbers will always look unimpressive even when his route value is high — the pass volume just isn't there.
His first career TD came in the playoffs — 84 yards on 4 catches, Wild Card vs CHI, outperforming 13 of 14 regular-season games.
MilestoneGolden caught zero regular-season TDs in 14 games. His first career touchdown was on the postseason stage — Wild Card weekend vs Chicago, 4 catches for 84 yards and 1 TD.
That single playoff line (Wk19) outpaced 13 of his 14 regular-season appearances in receiving yards — only his Week 6 showing vs CIN (86 yards) was better. He is one of the rare modern 1st-round WRs to finish a full rookie regular season with zero touchdowns.
Why it matters. Scoring zero regular-season TDs as a 1st-round receiver is unusual and often signals either red-zone scheme avoidance or usage limitations; the playoff TD shows the talent is real, the opportunity just wasn't consistent.
Among 2025 1st-round WR rookies, Golden led in catch rate (65.9%) despite running the deepest routes — a high-efficiency deep threat on low volume.
ComparisonDeep routes miss more often — yet Golden posted the highest catch rate among all four 1st-round WRs drafted in 2025: 65.9% (29-of-44) vs Tetairoa McMillan 57.4% (70/122), Travis Hunter 62.2% (28/45), and Emeka Egbuka 49.6% (63/127).
His 12.6-yard aDOT was also the highest of that group, making him the only 1st-round WR rookie who simultaneously ran the deepest routes *and* caught the highest share of them. The volume (44 targets, rank 3rd of 4) remains the limiting factor going into Year 2.
2025 1st-round WR rookie comparison
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Catch% | aDOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Golden | 44 | 29 | 65.9% | 12.6 |
| Travis Hunter | 45 | 28 | 62.2% | 7.9 |
| Tetairoa McMillan | 122 | 70 | 57.4% | 11.6 |
| Emeka Egbuka | 127 | 63 | 49.6% | 12.4 |
Why it matters. High catch rate on deep routes is one of the hardest combinations to sustain; if GB increases Golden's target share in Year 2 while keeping him on vertical routes, the production upside is significant.
Week 16 vs CHI: 1 target, 0 catches, -3 air yards — the back-shoulder screen that went backward defines his usage floor.
AnomalyGolden's lowest-usage weeks reveal how extreme the variance was: Week 16 vs CHI he saw 1 target on a -3 air-yard pass (a behind-the-line screen), with a 4.2% target share — effectively a decoy. Week 14 vs CHI was also just 1 target, 16 air yards, 4.3% share — two of his three worst-usage games were against the same opponent.
The inverse: Week 18 vs MIN delivered a 30.0% target share (3 targets in a low-volume game, but the number is real). His usage spread of 4.2% to 30.0% tells the full story of a role that was never locked in during Year 1.
Why it matters. A player who gets -3 air-yard targets in one week and a 30% share in another is being used situationally, not as a defined WR2/WR3 — identifying when the usage locks in is the key Year 2 question.
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