MatthewGolden

News: 1 hour agoGolden secured six of seven targets for 123 yards in the Packers' 31-7 win over the Bears on Sunday. He also returned two punts for 27 yards.

Spin: As good as Golden's afternoon was, he was actually slightly outshined by fellow wideout Christian Watson, who had 20 more receiving yards on the same number of catches and one additional target. Nevertheless, Golden's afternoon included a new career high in receiving yards, as well as a career-high-tying reception total. The second-year speedster is already well on his way to a breakout campaign, and Golden now has at least seven targets in four of his first five games of the campaign. The 2025 first-round pick will take a 24-397-2 line on 44 targets into a favorable Week 6 home matchup against the Packers next Sunday night.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Golden is eyeing a Year 2 leap following a disappointing rookie season in which he was limited to 39 touches and failed to find the end zone in 14 regular-season games. Golden was limited to 53% of the snaps and never cleared six targets in a single outing. Some optimism was generated from Golden's 4-84-1 receiving line in the playoff loss to Chicago, but even with Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks gone, it's unclear if he will actually see a big boost in usage in Matt LaFleur's offense considering that no Green Bay receiver has cleared a 21% target share since Davante Adams' departure prior to 2022. The speedy Golden, who also contributes as a rusher, is a recent first-round pick entering his second season. He's worth a speculative middle-round flier.