Plenty of people questioned the Green Bay Packers after Matthew Golden's subpar rookie season. This is your first-round pick, your first receiver drafted on Day 1 in 23 years? Where's the upside?
Plenty of people, too, questioned the four-year, $92 million extension, worth millions more in incentives, the Packers gave Christian Watson this offseason.
He won't stay healthy, they said. His career-high in receiving yards is 620. Watson is good, but he's no No. 1 receiver.
Golden and Watson might have something to say about that after Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears. The Packers' receiving duo combined for 266 receiving yards on 12 catches, with Watson hauling in a pair of touchdowns. Both had a reception of 50-plus yards.
By receiving yards per game, Watson and Golden Bros. are the NFL's top one-two punch so far this season. Ahead of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens in Dallas. Better than Amon-Ra St.Brown and Jameson Williams in Detroit.
That's a draft pick and an extension well spent.
Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are giving the Packers what they paid for (and more)
In case you hadn't heard, Watson is putting up Randy Moss/Calvin Johnson/prime Davante Adams numbers. That's the type of company he's in with his 474 receiving yards and six touchdowns through five games:
I found this by searching for players with at least 450 receiving yards and 6 TDs through the first 5 games of a season at @pfref. The start of some incredible seasons here: https://t.co/XRXXkhB7ay pic.twitter.com/Zqz1kGXCba
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) October 11, 2026
The injury concerns were real when the Packers handed Watson his extension; he missed 20 games in his first four seasons and only returned from knee surgery halfway through last year.
Misgivings about his production, on the other hand, lacked substance. Packers fans have seen the explosive potential since Watson turned pro. He put up the best numbers of his career, at a 1,000-yard pace, after returning in Week 8 a season ago.
Watson has picked up where he left off and then some. The former second-round pick has repaid the Packers' trust in spades.
Golden has done the same after Green Bay not only drafted him with the 23rd pick, but then cleared out the receiver room to let him spread his sophomore wings. Even before Jayden Reed's season ended with a devastating injury, Golden had established himself as the No. 2 option behind Watson.
In fact, Packers fans can't help but note that Golden's production so far outshoots many a WR1 across the league. That's no hyperbole: he ranks ninth in the NFL with 397 receiving yards, right behind Watson in fifth. Sunday was the third time this season that both have recorded at least 95 yards in the same game.
Even coming off a dominant win over the Bears, it would be foolish to take a Packers victory lap. The schedule only gets harder from here. The roster's problems - an undermanned offensive line, an anemic run game, injured stars - don't have easy answers. Is this a playoff team? Probably not.
What does seem safe to say is that Watson and Golden are the real deal, worth every penny of the Packers' investment. Of that, at least, there should be little doubt.
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