From the University of Texas, Matthew Golden has the potential to be one of the second-round steals in 2025 Dynasty Rookie Drafts. The 21-year-old put up some impressive numbers during his time in college and was a key part of the Longhorns’ offense this past season. Golden is a dynamic wide receiver who checks many boxes to be a productive future NFL player. Golden is a Texas native who’s beginning to get more talk after the NFL Combine and should continue to impress scouts throughout the rest of the pre-draft process. Also, depending on where he ends up, he could become an NFL starter immediately, making him a valuable Dynasty wide receiver. Let’s take a closer look at him.
* Within this article, the statistics were pulled from Sports Reference, KeepTradeCut (KTC), Pro Football Focus (PFF), and Sleeper.
College Production (2022 – 2024)
Golden, a four-star recruit with a track and field background, has recently gained more helium, mainly after his 4.29 40-yard dash time. This ranked him first of all wide receivers at the 2025 NFL Combine. To start, Golden played two seasons at the University of Houston. He was a key member of the receiving corps during his freshmen season, with 38 receptions for 584 yards and a school-record seven receiving touchdowns for a freshman. He followed that up his sophomore year with 38 receptions for 404 yards and six touchdowns. It’s important to note that a foot injury kept him out for the final three games, limiting his statistics.
Golden then entered the transfer portal, finding his way to Austin, Texas. During his lone season with the University of Texas, he split his time with the other Longhorn pass catchers, but it didn’t take long for Golden to rise to the top of the wide receiver depth chart. Golden saved his best for his senior season, where he started all sixteen games and finished with 58 receptions on 987 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Most impressively, during the final four contests of his senior season (SEC Championship and three College Football Playoff games), he averaged 102.8 receiving yards per game. Golden’s speed, route-running, and special teams versatility will be an asset to any team that drafts him and he’s proving himself worthy of being ranked over some of the other wide receivers in this year’s class. Golden has only three years of collegiate experience as he opted to enter the 2025 NFL Draft, forgoing his final year of eligibility.
Golden was listed on the Walter Camp Award watch list for the 2023 season. He can be a contributor in his rookie season in the right situation. Whichever NFL team drafts him in April will likely look to put him in situations that maximize his receiving talent and speed, something that he has put on full display for during his collegiate career.
Strengths
Listed at 5′ 11″ and 191 pounds, Golden was impressive in quickly establishing himself as Texas’ leading receiver this past season. He does a lot of things well overall, especially with his athleticism. Golden is fluid and has shown the ability to move around the formation, taking snaps both outside, in the slot, and occasionally in motion. He shows good suddenness and often effectively uses stutter steps to release. Golden has excellent acceleration, as shown in his 40-time against soft coverage, and was a very effective deep threat with good ball-tracking ability. He does a good job running a variety of routes on different levels of the field, mainly hooks, out-routes, and hitches. Golden also knows how to use tempo changes to freeze defenders, creating open pockets for this quarterback.
Additionally, Golden shows the ability to improvise and get open when the play breaks down, and his flexibility allows him to adjust to throws. It’s important to note that Golden has also shown the ability to win in contested situations (11 out of 18, 61.1% success rate in 2024). One thing that caught my eye on the game tape is his awareness and footwork near the sidelines, and he’s very competitive after the catch. Golden shows good effort blocking, and a bonus is that he can help at the next level on special teams, as he was a dangerous kick returner at the University of Houston.
All in all, he’s a tough and competitive player after the catch who always looks for the extra yard. I expect his stock to continue rising as we approach the 2025 NFL Draft. Most importantly, what separates him is his athleticism and knack for the big play, which is difficult to teach.
Weaknesses
Golden does have some weaknesses in his game that stick out to me. First, he never really broke out. His entire collegiate career was underwhelming and littered with inconsistencies. He never led his team in receptions and only averaged 3.6 receptions per game, far from superstar levels. Also, he has a career mark below 2.00 YPRR in three seasons (1.66, 1.64 & 2.10). Additionally, his size and length are average for a wide receiver. As a thinner player, he’s susceptible to getting his routes disrupted by physical defenders as he lacks the ideal contact balance. Until he adds more bulk, he’s likely to struggle against physical jams at the line of scrimmage in the NFL. Like most rookie receivers, he can improve his route running and often runs into coverage when facing the zone. Not having ideal size also impacts his catch radius, and in the past, he’s had issues with drops, even though he showed improvement during his time with the Longhorns. My biggest knock on him is that he’s not the most dynamic player after the catch and allows opponents to push him around when blocking.
There’s no reason to believe he can’t improve upon many of these traits and further develop his game. At the next level, adding more bulk to strengthen his blocking game and refining his route running will create more separation. It’ll be important that he gets placed with a top coaching staff at the next level who can help him continue his development.
Draft Projection
Golden is projected to be a late 1st-round pick (28th overall prospect), according to NFL Mock Draft Database, as things currently stand after his stock rose during the NFL Combine, mainly due to his 40-time. While he’s a talented player teams will be willing to take a chance on, he doesn’t come without his flaws, as he does need some refinement to his game. However, he has the potential to be an excellent all-around wide receiver if he can reach his ceiling in the NFL. Golden is a player that most of your league mates are probably familiar with and taking notice of his stock on NFL Draft boards. Currently, he projects in the early-to-mid second round of Dynasty Fantasy Football Drafts, and he could be one of the gems of Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts this year, especially with a nice landing spot. Ideally, a team in need of a wide receiver late in the 2025 NFL Draft, notably the Texans at 25 or Rams at 26, could help him fulfill his potential. To me, the Rams are intriguing, with Golden catching passes from Matthew Stafford while playing next to Puka Nacua and being coached up by Sean McVay. As Golden gets an opportunity to show off his abilities, his draft stock continues to rise, and as the NFL Combine came to a close, rumors of Golden being the first wide receiver off the board were flying around. While I don’t have Golden above Tet McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Travis Hunter, or Luther Burden, he’s gaining more of my attention. If Golden falls into a great situation he has the chance to become a very productive player in the NFL.
Conclusion
While Golden has shown inconsistencies, he’s still shown flashes of being a very solid wide receiver overall. I don’t have him ranked in that first tier of rookie wide receivers in this year’s draft class, but he’s a player who catches your eye and would be a great value in the second round of Dynasty Rookie Drafts. He has a well-rounded game with good suddenness, acceleration, flexibility, and route running.
Even though he’s getting first-round hype after his NFL Combine performance, he might not necessarily deserve that. Golden can be a contributor in his rookie season in the right situation. Whichever NFL team adds him in April will likely look to put him in situations that maximize his receiving talent, similar to what the Chiefs did this past year, bringing along Xavier Worthy slowly until he broke out mid to late year. Wide receiver is not one of the strengths of the 2025 Draft class, but Golden hopes to prove doubters wrong. Golden has been compared to players like Worthy or Stefon Diggs. Personally, Golden reminds me more of Marvin Mims Jr. with his height and the speed element of his game. Mims Jr. took a little bit of time to prove himself at the NFL level, and I can see the same with Golden. However, time will tell if he can live up to his pro comparisons. If Golden can add more strength and refine a few of his flaws, he has the makings of a top wide receiver who can do just about everything on the field.
As things stand now, Golden’s stock is trending up, and I will be watching him closely leading up to the NFL Draft to see if he can keep climbing up draft boards any further. If he’s drafted by an offensive-minded team like the Rams with a creative play-caller, his stock will rise. I don’t see Golden as a true alpha WR1, but he will be someone I’ll be targeting, especially if he has a good landing spot that could allow him to showcase his dynamic playmaking abilities early on, helping make him the steal of Dynasty Rookie Drafts. Golden could be of great value and a steal in the second round on his way to becoming a very valuable Dynasty Fantasy Football player. I’m betting on Golden to be one of the better wide receivers in this year’s 2025 rookie class. Get him on your team, as he projects to be a steal from round two of Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you gained some valuable information. If you have any questions or you’d like additional insight and analysis, please follow me on Twitter/X at @MonicasHubby. #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
