Packers WR Matthew Golden Is NFL’s Breakout Star (Drops Be Damned)

DETROIT – When the Green Bay Packers opted to let Romeo Doubs go in free agency and trade Dontayvion Wicks, it was with the goal of giving Matthew Golden more opportunities.

That faith has been rewarded.

Golden enters Sunday’s game at the Detroit Lions ranked sixth in the NFL with 501 receiving yards. He’s 16th with 30 catches, fifth with a 16.7-yard average and tied for 13th with three touchdowns.

According to Stats Perform’s Opta data, Golden has increased his receiving output from 25.8 yards per game last season to 83.5 yards per game this season. That’s an increase of 57.7 yards per game and the largest season-to-season improvement since Josh Gordon was plus-67.3 in 2013.

Golden’s been really good, to state the obvious. He’d be great if not for his league-high seven drops.

“There was a lot of plays left out there,” Golden said after dropping two touchdowns against Dallas. “Those are plays that you want back, especially just knowing the type of game – Sunday night, how important it was for us to come out with this win. For me, I’m not going to be too down about it because I know 10 times out of 10, I’m going to make those plays. That’s just going to come with it. I’m not going to get too down about it.”

A Prolific Start for Matthew Golden

As last year’s first-round pick, Golden caught 29 passes for 361 yards and zero touchdowns in 14 games as a rookie. He’s surpassed all those numbers in just six games.

He’s on pace to finish with 1,420 yards, which would rank seventh in franchise history. Only Davante Adams in 2021 and Jordy Nelson in 2014 reached 1,500 yards. Having eclipsed 100 yards in back-to-back games and three of the last four, who knows what lofty numbers he could reach.

Last week, he became the first Packers player with 100-plus receiving yards in back-to-back games since Adams in 2021. He also became the first Packers player with 90-plus receiving yards four times in the first six games of a season since Greg Jennings in 2008.

While he’s obviously left plenty of yards on the field with the drops, he’s also been deprived of a lot of yards through the interference penalties he’s drawn. In fact, he’s drawn more interference penalties for more yards than any player in the league.

Entering Week 7, Golden was tied for third in the league with nine catches of 20-plus yards.

Lions coach Dan Campbell, whose pass defense is the worst in the NFL, knows he’ll have his hands full.

“I did a lot of homework on him,” Campbell said of last year’s predraft process. “We like Golden. He was really good ball skills, man, can track it, pluck it, and then the speed – speed, explosiveness – really showed up and he's really taken a step up.

“He's really improved his game even from a year ago. He's taken that second-year jump and he's just really throughout the year he's grown. Every game he's gotten better and better, and you can tell there is a lot of trust between the quarterback and him and (Christian) Watson for that matter, but he's upped his game. He's playing at a high level.”

Matthew Golden Is Reaching Expectations

Golden has been the big-play threat everyone imagined after his blazing 40-yard time at the 2025 Scouting Combine. According to PFF, 54 receivers have been targeted at least 25 times headed into Sunday’s game. Golden is just 52nd in catch rate but 13th in yards per route and fifth in average distance of target because of the big-play production.

Of the 55 receivers who have been targeted 20-plus yards downfield at least five times, Golden is fourth in catches (five) and yards (194). Two drops have prevented him from putting up even bigger numbers.

The drops are perplexing from a player who showed impeccable hands during training camp. It’s why nobody is reaching for the panic button.

“I’m not concerned (about the drops), " offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said, “just because I know the type of player that he is. It’s just one of those things that you can’t lose trust in yourself. You got here for a reason. You are the player who you are for a reason.

“We all trust him. Jordan trusts him. I know he’s going to make those plays. The ball’s going to keep coming his way, so yeah, it’s just one of those things. You just got to work through it, trust yourself and keep your confidence.”

Jordan Love hasn’t lost any trust in Golden. Just before halftime on Sunday, Golden dropped what should have been a 23-yard touchdown. On the next play, Love extended the play and hit Golden for 21 yards to set up a touchdown.

“It means a lot,” Golden said after the game. “Just being able to be in that position, obviously, he trusts me enough to continue to keep going to me. I feel like this all started back in training camp, OTAs, when we continued to put the work in each and every day and just continued to build chemistry. And obviously it showed tonight that the chemistry is there.

“I feel like we still have a lot left out there. I’m excited for what’s in store.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER