The Green Bay Packers 2025 Fantasy Football Rookie Roundup

They did it! The Packers did it! They took a round one wide receiver for the first time in over 20 years. Unfortunately, Matthew Golden isn’t quite what you would expect from a first-round receiver. They also took Savion Williams in the third, the closest I think we get to finding another Deebo Samuel, though he could be another Cordarrelle Patterson. Either way, they’re fantasy football-relevant, so let’s dive in!

Round 1, Pick 23: Matthew Golden, Wide Receiver, Texas (5’11” 191 lbs)

The following is an excerpt from the Round One Fantasy Football Rookie Round Up

TALENT:

Golden is a strong and quick receiver and returner who utilizes a running back (low to the ground) running style reminiscent of Deebo Samuel with the football. Unfortunately, he’s not as heavy as Deebo Samuel, so those who want to make him the newest wide receiver to get the Deebo Samuel comparison very wrong. Golden is a good contested catch receiver with nice YAC abilities, which meant that the Longhorns went out of their way to manufacture touches for him. Unfortunately, he struggled with big boy receptions, mainly because his downfield separation isn’t great, unless it was on a route cutting back to the quarterback. Slants, go routes, and in/out routes all found the opposing defender in his pocket. That, unfortunately, keeps him from being a top-tier receiver in this class in my book. His lack of separation and diminutive size see him frequently pushed off his spot on contested catches downfield.

That being said, he will feast against zones, as he is incredibly good at finding the holes and pressing upfield between the defenders once he gets the ball. If a team uses him that way, he should thrive at the next level as a third-tier “alpha” receiver (in the Chris Olave mold). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he entered one of those situations.

NFL Comparison: Chris Olave
Pre-Draft Grade: Late 1^st/Early 2^nd

2025 OPPORTUNITY:

Depth Chart:
WR1     Matthew Golden
WR2     Jayden Reed
WR3     Christian Watson
WR4     Savion Williams
WR5     Romeo Doubs
WR6     Dontayvion Wicks
WR7     Mecole Hardman

Golden likely separates himself from this group, but not by much, to be honest. He is the best player in this receiver room, but he isn’t the alpha receiver who would preclude the Packers from including all of these players in their weekly game plan. He could find himself at the top of the pecking order, but he’s still primarily a deep threat with some gadgetry who has a lot of other deep threats and gadgety players to contend with for targets every week. This doesn’t even include Josh Jacobs and Luke Musgrave, who deserve targets!

2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:

It isn’t exceptional, but he has a chance to be good. Golden will often act as a deep threat, though he is likely to shake out as the “first among equals” role that Jayden Reed inhabited last season. With targets getting split several ways, and Jordan Love (he of the well-below-average 5.2 Accuracy Rating on PlayerProfiler.com) throwing them, I have very little interest in Golden in his rookie year. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But he doesn’t intrigue me.

Round 3, Pick 87: Savion Williams, Wide Receiver, TCU (6’4″, 222 lbs)

TALENT

Savion Williams is big and fast. That’s pretty much the long and the short of it. We’ve seen players like him before, who use their dominant physical traits in college to boost their draft capital; however, they lack the nuance, the ability to play a particular position, and the attention to detail necessary to succeed at the NFL level. Savion Williams looks to be the next in the line of Corey Davis, Quinton Johnston, Chase Claypool, and other big receivers who, despite their speed, failed to make an impact at the next level.

TCU put the ball in his hands as a running back with relative frequency. However, the only reason that this worked is because of his size. He is not an adept runner, he does not separate, he does not find openings in zones, and he does not fight man coverage. What he is is big and fast, and he uses that size and speed blend to catch touchdowns. Williams will provide an NFL team as a big, short area target in the red zone or on 3rd downs. I have no interest in him for fantasy football.

NFL comparison: Cordarrelle Patterson
Pre-Draft Grade: 5^th Round

2025 OPPORTUNITY:

Depth Chart:
WR1     Matthew Golden
WR2     Jayden Reed
WR3     Christian Watson
WR4     Savion Williams
WR5     Romeo Doubs
WR6     Dontayvion Wicks
WR7     Mecole Hardman

Williams is somewhat buried in the Packers’ depth chart, but much like Cordarrelle Patterson and Deebo Samuel, he likely exists outside the depth chart. He’s an imposing physical freak with both wide receiver and running back skills and traits. Williams likely starts the season outside of the traditional wide receiver depth chart. Still, he could easily work his way into the receiver rotation early due to Christian Watson’s lingering ACL tear.  He must outplay three disappointments: Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, and Mecole Hardman.

2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK

Williams is likely to get drafted in drafts where more than 250 players get drafted, and I am likely the one to take a shot at him late in drafts. With the running back room depleted behind Josh Jacobs and no true alpha in the wide receiver room (though maybe Matthew Golden might fit the bill), Williams could have an opportunity to immediately impact the Packers’ offense and your fantasy football prospects.

However, you should have an itchy trigger finger with Williams. Likely, he doesn’t come around until he has some real wide receiver seasoning under his belt, but it’s worth a shot that he gets ahead of the curve.