All eyes are on Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden entering his sophomore NFL campaign. There are big expectations for him, especially internally, with head coach Matt LaFleur being the conductor of the hype train.
The stars are aligning for Golden to take significant steps forward in 2026. Early signs from minicamp have been positive too. More notably, though, LaFleur has spoken highly of the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Green Bay's actions have backed that up.
With mandatory organized team activities (OTAs) upon the Packers, Golden has a chance to show up and show out against his veteran teammates. And evidently, LaFleur seemingly anticipates the Texas product seizing the opportunity and parlaying it into a strong season.
"I think there's a big step for guys coming into this league going into Year 2, and we expect that to happen [with Golden]," LaFleur stated, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "We've seen a lot of that out on the practice field."
Matt LaFleur continues pumping confidence into Matthew Golden during Packers' OTAs
Of course, there's a massive difference between looking the part in voluntary sessions without pads and doing it in real games. However, hearing Golden has been making plays in lower-intensity practices is far from a bad thing and could be a precursor of what's to come.
LaFleur clearly believes Green Bay has a budding young playmaker on their hands — and why shouldn't he? It wasn't long ago that Golden became the club's first wideout taken in Round 1 since the Brett Favre days (Javon Walker, 2002). A rookie season that got better with time isn't enough to move off historically unprecedented, at least by the organization's standards, priors.
The Packers are counting on Golden to be an integral part of a new-look consolidated offense. Veteran receiver Romeo Doubs' and Dontayvion Wicks's departures this offseason created 131 vacated targets. Not to mention, star tight end Tucker Kraft is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered this past November.
For what it's worth, Golden appears up for the challenge thus far. He's reportedly been a "favorite target" for Green Bay's franchise quarterback, Jordan Love, according to Demovsky.
Whether Golden can live up to his lofty billing will be vital to the Packers' playoff hopes. He has the potential to be a key cog in their passing attack and an ideal complement to recently paid pass-catcher Christian Watson.
Add us as a preferred source on Google