The Green Bay Packers are normally not very shy when it comes to creating a pathway to playing time for their younger players, and it appears as though they are giving Matthew Golden every opportunity to succeed in Matt LaFleur's high-octane offense.
Not only is Golden tracking to be one of the better receivers in a wide receiver class that was generally regarded as below-average, but he has been one of the more impressive players at any position throughout the early stages of Packers camp. It appears as though Brian Gutekunst has hit yet another skill position home run.
Golden is competing for snaps in a very open wide receiver room that includes multiple other players on rookie contracts. Despite all of that, it appears as though Golden has taken some steps towards setting himself apart from the rest of the common rabble.
"His hands (he's not a body-catcher) and his determination to be great," Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said. "One person with the team pointed out that he hadn't dropped a pass through the first week-plus of camp, and he connected on a 60-yard deep ball in 11-man earlier in the week. Golden is part of a deep receiver room that will create tough roster decisions."
Matthew Golden has been dominating at Packers training camp
Golden has a meteoric rise up draft boards in the 2024 season. After teammate Isaiah Bond went from being a first-round pick to an undrafted player who hasn't been signed, Golden, a Houston transfer, tallied just under 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in his lone season with the Longhorns.
He has a legitimate chance to eventually seize control of the No. 1 spot on the wide receiver depth chart. His most established competition for that role is Jayden Reed, who is so up-and-down that his inability to take a leap prompted the Golden selection.
Golden's blinding speed will help keep Green Bay as one of the more explosive vertical passing teams in the league. If he can add a little bit of muscle, Golden should be able to avoid getting jammed at the line of scrimmage by more physical cornerbacks.
It's easy to overhype any rookie who starts dominating in training camp before getting any actual game reps in, but the Packers must contain themselves after Golden appears to be everything the front office thought they were getting when they picked him.