Former Green Bay Packers stars, including Randall Cobb, see untapped potential in wide receiver Matthew Golden, believing his time to shine is imminent.
Matthew Golden's rookie season with the Green Bay Packers was disappointing. It's okay to admit it, especially when considering the expectations that were on him.
He was the first, first-round wide receiver selected by the Packers since Javon Walker in 2002. Fans were excited to see a first-round investment in a wide receiver, finally, and expected Golden to be productive for the Packers right away.
Perhaps he was even the missing piece for Jordan Love and the offense.
That's at least how many fans saw it, but those "in the know" around Green Bay knew a bit better. It had nothing to do with Golden, either, but it had more to do with the way the Packers do things.
Few would know better than Randall Cobb, who spoke to the young wide receiver before his rookie season to make sure that he had the proper expectations. The Packers didn't draft him so that he could come in and shoulder the offensive load right away.
They never do that.
Instead, the Packers like to slowly get young players used to life in the NFL, and it's a process that takes time.
"That was one of the conversations I had with Golden when he was drafted last year," Cobb recently said, according to Wes Hodkiewicz of the team website. "Just letting him know that you don't have to put the pressure on yourself. I know you'll probably hear a lot of outside noise about what the expectation is, but just know that your time is going to come."
Still, a rookie season with just 29 catches on 44 targets for 361 yards and no touchdowns certainly qualifies as disappointing. If it wasn't for the four catches, 84 yards and a touchdown Golden put up in the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, it would have been a tough rookie season.
Except, you can't count out what Golden did in the playoff game.
Cobb certainly isn't.
"To see him end the season the way that he did in Chicago, I was so proud of that moment and for him to have the opportunity," Cobb said. "Obviously, wish the game would have turned out differently but I think that's something to build on and it's something to realize that he has the capability."
Former Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb talks to the media at Lambeau Field before departing on the annual tailgate tour on April 14, 2026, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. © Richard Ryman/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.Capability is not the issue with Golden. You can see it as a rookie when he was actually getting opportunities.
He's fast and has good hands. When he's open, he's really open. He also has a tendency to come up big in the big moments. That fourth-quarter touchdown against the Bears is a good example, but Love went to Golden in multiple clutch situations as a rookie and he always seemed to deliver.
You can see the star power there. Now, all Golden needs is the opportunity to show it off.
One would imagine the Packers believe the 2026 season is his time to do it, too. They wouldn't have traded Dontayvion Wicks if that wasn't the case.
"You talk about lightning, he got way more than I had," former wideout James Jones said in the same article by Hodkiewicz. "That's just being honest. He got way more than I had. Way more juice, way more moves. I may have had the ability to go get the ball a little bit more, but the dude's going to be a superstar."
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