Who Should I Start? Calvin Austin III or Matthew Golden

Monday, September 15, 11:59 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III was not as productive this past Sunday as he was in Week 1's win over the Jets. However, he was Pittsburgh's leading snap-getter amongst the team's wideouts. Austin III reeled in just 1-of-4 targets for 22 yards in their 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but participated on one more snap than running mate DKMetcalf. Metcalf still paced the team in targets as he did the week prior, but Pittsburgh is throwing it a ton, so there's enough to go around for at least one more pass-catcher. Austin III remains a boom-bust option out wide for now, although he's more intriguing in 2025 than in seasons past. If quarterback Aaron Rodgers can exhibit some consistency, he'll be more useful for fantasy than not.

Tuesday, September 16, 12:23 PM

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden came into the 2025 season with a lot of hype, being the first wide receiver drafted by the team in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002. Through two games, Golden hasn't done much to satisfy the hype of fantasy managers, with just two receptions for 16 yards combined in his first two NFL games. That said, Golden has been the recipient of several deep throws from quarterback Jordan Love that have just missed being huge plays. We'd be talking about Golden much favorably if those plays had gone the other way. Still, fantasy managers won't get points for almost scoring or almost catching the ball. One good sign for Golden is that his routes per dropback have risen from 57 percent in Week 1 to 68 percent in Week 2, so the Packers are getting him on the field a bit more. In Week 3, the Packers head east to play the Cleveland Browns, where Golden could get on track to deliver some fantasy value. However, until we see it, he's got to be left on fantasy benches in the majority of fantasy formats.