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Green Bay Packers fans have been waiting for it and seen brief flashes, but Sunday’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals showed what receiver Matthew Golden is capable of in this offense.
For the first time in Golden’s NFL career, the rookie wide receiver eclipsed 100 yards of offense, catching 3-of-5 targets for 86 yards with another 16 yards on two rushing attempts. Despite only having three catches, it was also Golden’s highest receiving output by a full 28 yards.
The splash plays have already been there for Golden. He’s had an explosive catch of at least 34 yards in three straight games. However, it was the consistency and decision-making (at least on offense) that helped Golden play such a crucial role in Green Bay’s offense in the win.
Two of Golden’s targets were deep shots, but it’s the five-yard in route followed by an impressive play after the catch that showcased better decision-making with the ball in his hands than he had shown earlier this season.
Packers fans should be excited about the long-term outlook for Golden, but the rest of the league might still be sleeping on the first-round pick, especially when comparing him to the rest of the rookie class.
Tampa Bay’s Emeka Egbuka has looked like an early Offensive Rookie of the Year frontrunner while catching passes from an MVP favorite in Baker Mayfield. Carolina’s Tetairoa McMillan caught a pair of touchdowns in the upset win over Dallas today for the Carolina Panthers. Even later-round picks in Seattle’s Tory Horton and Tennessee’s Elic Ayomanor have flashed for their respective teams.
While Golden has yet to find the end zone, he’s been making the most of his opportunities in an offense that has a lot of mouths to feed and limited opportunities to get the ball, with Jordan Love attempting just 147 passes in five games.
According to preliminary PFF data, Golden is averaging a respectable 1.85 yards per route run so far this year, but averaged 4.09 YPRR on Sunday, leading the team thanks to his big-play potential.
Rookie wide receivers are going to take their lumps, especially early in their careers. The same thing can be said about any number of Packers players in recent years, including the likes of Christian Watson, Davante Adams and Dontayvion Wicks.
However, with big-play potential that Golden is bringing to the table, along with the ability to make defenders in open space, things are trending in the right direction for the first-round pick to be a key part of this offense for the rest of the year.
