The Green Bay Packers have invested a whole lot in the wide receiver position of late. Between spending a first-round pick on Matthew Golden last year, and signing Jayden Reed and Christian Watson to lucrative extensions, the Packers' core trio is locked in for quite a while.
That's great news for quarterback Jordan Love, who's still ascending and trying to make his own mark in an epic lineage of Packers legends at his position. It ain't easy following the likes of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, yet Love is well on his way to being a Hall of Fame-caliber player.
Make no mistake, however: Stellar as Love has been to date, he's not close to his ceiling. Here's why Golden can help him get closer to that acme.
Packers WR Matthew Golden can open up the playbook to make Jordan Love truly elite
An article from PFF a while back noted how Love was the highest-graded QB last year versus Cover 0 and Cover 1. For the schematically less-initiated, Cover 0 is when opponents send all-out blitzes, forcing the field general into quick decisions. Better have your hot reads peeking for the ball!
Love is so adept at beating the blitz, using his unconventional fadeaway footwork to buy just enough time and deliver the ball for big plays. Cover 1 is simply straightforward man coverage, of which there are many variations.
And if this Packers offensive line, full of question marks as it may be, can keep Love upright at a competent level? Well, he's as lethal of a passer as there is under those conditions. Only MVP Matthew Stafford had a better PFF passing grade (95.6) than Love (94.2) when kept clean last season.
But all that data about Cover 0 and Cover 1, by implication, means the Packers' passing attack has room to improve versus zone coverage. That's where Golden can really factor into the equation.
Before we get too in the weeds with that, let's establish a baseline of who Matthew Golden is as an NFL player to date. Golden had a pretty even split of snaps between the slot and the perimeter during his rookie season. That gives him alignment versatility to execute any number of passing concepts.
Thanks to his elite sub-4.3 40 speed, the 22-year-old is another burner who can blow the top off the opposing secondary. For all the strengths of Dontayvion Wicks and other Packers wideouts of yesteryear, only Watson had that kind of explosive ability. That is, until Golden came onto the scene.
Because Green Bay's receiver rotation was so deep, Golden didn't get a ton of opportunities as a rookie. Assuming the Pack put more of an emphasis on quality (not quantity) of playmakers, he has a chance to absolutely explode in Year 2.
Golden’s particular set of skills should open up the offense and help Love make big strides against zone coverage. Say Watson and Golden are lined up on the boundary opposite each other. Their ability to threaten secondaries vertically should be awesome for Love to take more chances on hole shots (fitting the ball between the safety and cloud corner) versus Cover 2.
That's just one example. Also, Golden can attack Cover 3 with slot seams and short posts, and shock concepts (slot receiver runs inside fade with the boundary in a locked hitch).
Sail and flood concepts are known Cover 3 beaters as well. Watson can streak down the sideline on a go route, while Golden takes the corner route on the sail, or vice versa, though Watson isn't in the slot quite as often.
Packers tight end Tucker Kraft is a glorified slot weapon, and can run such inside routes from his normal spot on the field. What Golden gives Matt LaFleur the freedom to do is to run more 11 personnel packages (one back, one tight end, three wide receivers), and get as creative as ever on plays designs within those formation structures.
The four verticals concept (aka "all go") could be especially lethal, with Watson and Golden running switch/swap releases to really put defenses in a bind.
Then, obviously, Golden has the long speed to beat Quarters/Cover 4. He can be on the boundary attacking an alerted deep post, or running glorified clear routes on variations of Smash/hitch-corner route combinations to open up easier windows for Love in the shorter/intermediate parts of the field.
If Green Bay is trying to beat zone with underneath throws or in the quick game, Golden has the explosiveness to really move after the catch even on static routes (as opposed to trying to scheme up runaways against man coverage) and increase Love's upside in that way.
Bottom line being, Christian Watson isn’t the only dangerous vertical threat anymore. I think we’ll see a more multifaceted passing game and less of a focus on trying to get so many dudes in the wide receiver rotation.
Matthew Golden has the chance to be a true force multiplier in this Packers receiving corps, who should help Love elevate to new heights, and aid the efforts of Watson and Reed to live up to their new contracts.
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