Henry McKenna
NFL Reporter
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Everyone knew Jordan Love, who’s dealing with a left thumb injury, would get only 12 snaps during joint practices between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. And so there was Matthew Golden, the team’s first-round pick, on the field with the QB1 for a rare opportunity to get a genuinely competitive rep against another team.
On the second snap, Love’s pass went Golden’s way. The rookie wideout got his hands on it. But the ball fell to the ground: a drop. Love targeted Golden two more times, resulting in a pair of pass breakups. So if all a Packers fan saw was that session, he might be saying: This again?!
Green Bay, after all, had the second-highest drop rate (9.7%) and third-most drops (33) in the league last season, per FOX Sports research.
Packers first-round pick Matthew Golden in action against the Seahawks last weekend. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
But Golden had been terrific leading up to that joint session. And perhaps that’s why, after practice, he seemed to feel like it was simply an obstacle to overcome.
“You got to push through. It was one of them days,” Golden told me in the Packers’ locker room. “Mentally, I feel like I was right where I needed to be, on the details, being focused.”
He bounced back in the team’s preseason game against Seattle.
Backup quarterback Malik Willis tossed up a 50-50 ball to the 22-year-old receiver, who fought through cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett for a 39-yard reception that made Golden the leading receiver — and maybe the WR1 — for Green Bay on the night.
“What he got, you can’t teach,” third-year Packers receiver Jayden Reed said. “He’s a really good football player. He’s fast. Can’t teach that, man. He’s smooth in his routes. You can’t teach that. That work you put in, day in, day out — he showed that.”
Given the catch, his draft status (23rd overall), his blazing speed (fastest 40-yard time at the 2025 combine) and the Packers’ need for a WR1, Golden will have to manage high expectations.
“I think he can help us in any capacity that we need him to,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
Golden seems to recognize the expectations. When I asked him if he was aware of when the Packers had last drafted a receiver in Round 1, he told me: 2002. People have reminded him of that fact almost every day for the past few months. He acknowledged it was his dream to get drafted. And then he said this:
“It’s just been nothing but work since I touched foot here. So, man, I’m excited for being here, [with] the coaches and the players that we have here. I’m just looking forward to what’s in front of me.”
When Golden gets his hands on the football, he can run by anyone. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Golden is a worker bee. That’s what all his teammates and coaches say about him. The thing that surprised him about the NFL: He didn’t know how much he didn’t know about football.
“Now I’m fully starting to understand the small things,” Golden said. “Going to Texas really helped me, because it was kind of the same offense. But coming here, it’s a lot of different terminology. It’s just a small thing that you didn’t know about route depth, just different techniques and things like that, being able to read coverages. The transition was smooth, and I’m finally starting to feel like I can just go out there and play.”
Golden started his college career at Houston, where his numbers over two seasons were humble: 584 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 2022, then 404 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2023. After he transferred to Texas, Golden’s pro prospects changed. He finished the 2024 season with 58 catches, 987 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, all career-highs. He lit up the combine with his rare athleticism — and 4.29-second 40-yard dash.
Green Bay snagged Golden in the draft in part because they’ve been seeking a No. 1 receiver for years — ever since they traded Davante Adams in 2022. There’s no shortage of young talent, but no one among the Packers’ pass-catchers has truly emerged as an alpha. From Reed to Romeo Doubs to Dontayvion Wicks to Christian Watson, the receivers have enjoyed episodes of success.
But no one has really been Love’s guy. No one has stretched the field. No one has been uncoverable. No one has been a home run threat. Golden surely hopes to be all of that for Love.
“It’s everything, just having a great quarterback like [Love] — somebody you could talk to, and just try to understand things from his perspective,” Golden said. “I know what he likes and what he’s seeing. So I try to get a lot of feedback from him. … So, when it does come game time, we can be on the same page.”
Just like Golden is known for speed, Love is known for arm talent. That’s no coincidence. In theory, these two are made for each other from an X’s and O’s standpoint. Each one can maximize the other’s rare gifts. It’s just a matter of getting the timing and — as Golden pointed out multiple times during our conversation — “the small details” correct in LaFleur’s system.
They’ll have to get the quarterback’s drop in tune with the receiver’s break. That process moved faster than Golden expected. And he admitted Love’s velocity and anticipation were “definitely” a surprise in the early days of practice.
“Some of them hard throws that you probably seen in college, [NFL] quarterbacks are making that every day, and they make it look easy,” Golden said. “For me, that’s the big adjustment. [It] was just knowing that whenever I am on my break, the ball is going to be right where it needs to be.”
The questions for Golden are two-fold: Will he be right where he needs to be? And will he catch the football when he gets there?
Because those are the simple yet complicated elements of establishing any top-flight receiver in the NFL. Love and LaFleur have been searching for someone — anyone — who can do those things with consistency. Maybe they’ve finally found it in Golden, the organization’s first first-round pick at receiver since 2002.
And yes, Golden will drop the ball at some point — literally and metaphorically. He has so far proven, however, that those drops don’t bother him on the next play or in the next game. That could make all the difference.
Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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