The Green Bay Packers 2024 campaign felt both successful and disappointing in multitude of ways. Jordan Love led the franchise to the playoffs for a second straight year, but did so again with the emergence of a true WR1 on the roster.
Well, one NFL Insider believes the team may have a rookie receiver setup for a breakout year in 2025.
Matthew Golden Named Breakout Rookie Candidate for 2025 NFL Season
Year two of the Jordan Love era gave us more questions than answers.
Was Love’s regression in year two due to the NFL exposing his weaknesses under center? Was it due to dealing with multiple injuries? Or was it due to the lack of a true go-to WR to rely on in passing situations?
Regardless of where you believe the answer lies, USA Today NFL Insider Tyler Dragon believes the Packers have found a solution to their WR1 issues by saying Matthew Golden is a candidate to breakout in his rookie season in Green Bay.
Dragon wrote, “The Packers haven’t had a wide receiver top 1,000 yards since Davante Adams’ final season in Green Bay. Jordan Love spreads the football around on offense, but Jayden Reed’s emerged as a solid threat on the outside.”
Jayden Reed has led the team in receiving yards over the last two seasons with 793 in 2023 and 857 last year. Yet, those numbers are a far cry from the production the team go from Davante Adams, who topped 1,300 yards on three occasions from 2018 to 2021.
Dragon added, “Golden gives the Packers even more speed on the outside. Golden posted a WR-best 4.29 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. Reed, Golden and Christian Watson all have the ability to take the top off of the defense.”
Dragon appropriately brings up the aforementioned Reed and the oft-injured Christian Watson, who will enter the 2025 NFL season trying to fully recover from a torn ACL.
This leaves Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontavyion Wicks, and fellow rookie Savion Williams as Golden’s biggest competition for the WR1 role in Green Bay entering the 2025 NFL season.
Will Golden Emerge as the True WR1 in Green Bay in 2025?
Golden saw his draft stock soar after running a blazing time of 4.29 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Additionally, many NFL Draft pundits raved about Golden’s route-running ability, which gives him a unique blend of being able to threaten opposing DBs with vertical speed while understanding the nuance of how to attack leverage and create separation out of his breaks.
These traits could prove to be a lethal combination starting his NFL career with a talented offensive mind like Matt LaFleur scheming up Golden for quality looks all over the formation.
