The Green Bay Packers mostly stood pat on offense this free agency period, losing only one player who played more than 1.2% of the offensive snaps last season, starting C Josh Myers. They also only signed one offensive player who played more than 10% of snaps for their respective team last season, signing OG Aaron Banks from the 49ers. Their big offensive moves came in the draft, adding WR Matthew Golden in the first round, OT Anthony Belton in the second round, and WR/RB Savion Williams in the third round. Let’s see how these changes affect the fantasy fortunes of the Green Bay Packers players in 2025!
Overdrafted:
Jayden Reed, Wide Receiver (WR43, Pick 93 Overall)
My Ranking: WR47
Underdrafted:
Matthew Golden, Wide Receiver (WR45, Pick 97 Overall)
My Ranking: WR46
I paired these two together because I have no qualms about their rankings. I do, however, quibble with Reed going above Golden in fantasy drafts. And, given that this is my article, I can define “overdrafted” and “underdrafted” to mean whatever I darn well please. In this case, I worry about Reed’s role in the offense with Matthew Golden around.
The idea of Jayden Reed has seemingly always exceeded the production. He has four career games over 100 total yards in his two-year career, and he has only finished as a top-36 wide receiver 56% of the time. Thus far in his career, Jayden Reed has as many games where he’s finished as a WR4 or worse as he has finished as a top-24 wide receiver in the week, with those two outcomes compromising two-thirds of his games.
There’s a lot of hullabaloo with Reed because of his rushing “kicker” on top of his receiving. He has ten games with more than five rushing yards, with Reed averaging 8.5 rushing yards per game. Remember, in PPR, this kicker is worth less than one catch for zero yards. Deebo Samuel made the dual-threat wide receiver a vogue thing to chase, but that’s chasing excitement, not fantasy points.
Matthew Golden probably shouldn’t have been a first-round pick, but the Packers do not have a history of reaching for first-round receivers. The last time they took one was in 2002, with Javon Walker. This scarred them so severely that they would not take another until Golden.
As a player, Matthew Golden is a slight speedster, as he came out of the combine at 5’11”, 191 pounds, while running a 4.29 40-yard dash. That speed with a 1.49 10-yard split both earned top marks for wide receivers at the Combine. He’s a big play threat, and could be the answer to “what if Christian Watson was healthy… ever?” Golden might be better served in a best ball league than a managed league, but he’s well worth a stash as your WR5 in fantasy football leagues.
Sleeper:
MarShawn Lloyd, Running Back (RB56, Pick 170 Overall)
My Ranking: RB62
The Packers spent the 88th overall pick on Lloyd last season, and then let A.J. Dillon walk without replacing him this offseason. Lloyd didn’t get much usage last year, totaling only ten snaps and six carries after suffering a hip injury in training camp, then getting sidelined with an ankle injury, which somehow turned into appendicitis, which all kept him out for 15 games last season. It’s worth noting that he carried the ball on 60% of his snaps in 2024, after the Packers spent a day two pick on him last season.
Lloyd is currently the RB2 on the Packers, but that was not a very fruitful role last season, as Josh Jacobs ranked eighth in PlayerProfiler.com’s weighted opportunity rankings, meaning that he dominated touches. The RB2, Emanuel Wilson, had just 103 carries and 14 targets last year.
But this isn’t about weekly upside; this is about what happens if Josh Jacobs gets hurt. Jacobs has spent his career alternating between about 270 touches and 300+ touches, due to injuries. Last year, he notched the second-most touches in his career, with 337. I’m not predicting an injury for Jacobs, but we shouldn’t forget about Lloyd. He’s huge and fast, with exemplary patience and vision. He reminded me of prime Ray Rice last season, and I can’t just forget about that headed into 2025.
