Acme Packing Company
The first two weeks of the Matthew Golden era have not been statistically exciting. The thrills of seeing the Packers take a wide receiver with their first round pick for the first time since 2002 has now given way to just four touches (two catches and two carries) through two games. Even grading on a generous curve, I think that’s hardly the debut most fans hoped for.
But there are big things coming. The Packers are taking just about every opportunity they can to send Golden and his 4.29 speed deep, and it’s just a matter of time before it pays off.
Week 2 very nearly gave us a tantalizing glimpse. Twice, Golden was loose behind the defense for what should have been big gains or scores, and twice Jordan Love failed to connect with his newest running mate.
The first came on the Packers’ first drive. On a fourth and 3 from the Commanders 33-yard line, Golden was about as open as it gets on a post route, but Love badly underthrew him, forcing Golden to attempt to come back through a defender to make the catch. He didn’t, but he shouldn’t have had to.
Then, on the Packers’ first drive of the second quarter, Golden again got loose on a post route from the right side of the offensive formation, but this time, Love overthrew him, no mean feat considering Golden appeared to still be accelerating as the ball arrived. Had Love hit Golden in stride, there’s a very real chance Golden could have gone the distance for a 92-yard score.
The most optimistic interpretation of those two plays has Golden missing out on 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns. That’s another disappointment, to be sure, but there are at least two additional points of context that should assuage some of those disappointing feelings.
The first is this: at least the Packers are trying. With a bevy of experienced (if not overwhelmingly productive) pass catchers on the roster, the Packers could easily fall back on the tried and true trope of “bringing the rookie along slowly.” They’re not doing that. In key situations (one on a fourth down, one where they were backed up deep in their own territory), they looked to Golden to deliver, and he held up his end of the bargain. He was open — wide open, or at least what passes for it in big league football — on both plays. So far as Golden is concerned, that’s about all you can ask for.
But the second should be even more encouraging: these were far from the only times Golden was heading deep in to the opposing secondary. I charted all of Golden’s routes from his first two games, and using the criteria Pro Football Focus uses for their passing charting (short routes are from 0-9 yards downfield, medium routes are 10-19 yards, and deep routes are 20+ yards), I found that Golden was going deep on approximately 60% of his routes so far...
