Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Matthew Golden

Friday, May 2, 12:02 PM

Carolina Panthers veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen said that he talked with his family, and they wanted him to play in 2025. He plans to go through a similar process after this season, which is the final year of his contract. Depending on how the 34-year-old feels and what his family thinks after the 2025 campaign, Thielen could hang up his cleats and retire. He's returning for a third season in Carolina after playing in a career-low 10 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury. In those 10 games, he caught 48 of his 62 targets for 615 yards and five touchdowns. He should continue to be a trusted weapon for young quarterback Bryce Young out of the slot this year, but the addition of first-round rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan will surely make Thielen harder to trust as a WR3/flex in fantasy based on volume alone like he was in 2023, when he recorded the third 1,000-yard season of his career on 103 targets.

Wednesday, August 13, 2:19 PM

Zach Kruse of The Packers Wire writes that he hasn't heard the entirety of the Green Bay Packers organization "talk about a rookie like they have with wide receiver Matthew Golden in a long time." Kruse says that everytime someone is asked about Golden, it's some variation of, "Yeah, he's good, and he's only scratching the surface of his potential." It's looking more and more like the 22-year-old from Texas will be a key contributor through the air for the Packers offense right away in 2025. There will be more opportunity with Christian Watson (knee) expected to begin the year on the PUP list, and Jayden Reed (foot) could also be up in the air for Week 1. Golden has been practicing with the first-team offense since early in training camp and has gained valuable chemistry with quarterback Jordan Love. The speedy rookie is already in the conversation as a weekly WR4/flex in 2025.