When you haven't used a first-round pick on a wide receiver in over 20 years, you've got to make your next one count. The Green Bay Packers ended a two-decade drought of no first-round receivers when they selected Texas star Matthew Golden in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Packers infamously passed on skill-position talent throughout the Aaron Rodgers era in the first round of the draft, but here they are giving Jordan Love weapons upon weapons.
All kidding aside, the selection of Golden was much more about being opportunistic than it was about fan service, as fans in attendance at the draft in Green Bay were absolutely begging Brian Gutekunst to take a receiver. Golden represented excellent value at the 23rd overall pick, especially because there were some who felt like he might be the best receiver (behind Travis Hunter) in this year's incoming class.
The Packers are already getting a sense of why people thought so highly of him.
Matthew Golden might be too good not to be WR1 for the Packers
PoSt mOrE GoLdeN cOnTeNt
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 29, 2025
Here's a 60-yd TD for you.@emplifybellin pic.twitter.com/Houhnz6Qd5
The buzz surrounding Golden coming out of Packers training camp is significant. The Packers know they have something special on their hands, and Jordan Love is quickly developing chemistry with the first-round pick.
Even with Jayden Reed really emerging as a featured weapon in the offense, the Packers could make Golden their WR1 and go-to target in the passing game.
"The playmaking ability is there. You see that. When the ball is in the air, he's going to go get it and make that play," said Love, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
The emergence of someone like Golden at Packers training camp could completely reshape the way Matt LaFleur is planning his offense in 2025. The Packers have a chance over the next handful of weeks to seriously consider the long-term future of contract-year players like Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson at the wide receiver position, and it's very possible we'll see one of those guys on the move as a result of what Golden has done.
Even as a smaller receiver, Golden's "my ball" mentality is something that's going to endear him to Jordan Love very quickly. The Packers have plenty of players who can win after the catch, and both Watson and Doubs are capable of winning vertically, but Golden might be the most consistent big-play threat on the team early on.
You want to temper expectations for rookies, especially early on in training camp. Guys will flash often at practice, but when a player is stepping onto an NFL field like this for the first time and looking like a natural, building chemistry with QB1?
It's harder and harder to keep expectations at a simmer. They're starting to bubble over.