Who Should I Start? Jack Bech or Matthew Golden

Tuesday, September 16, 3:01 PM

Through the first two weeks of his NFL career, Las Vegas Raiders rookie receiver Jack Bech has caught one ball for 23 yards. The catch came on his only target in Week 1. The second-round pick who became a fan favorite through the pre-draft process has taken the field for only nine offensive snaps to start the year. Reports out of training camp were that fourth-rounder Dont'e Thornton Jr. was the Raiders' rookie best putting himself in position to make an early impact in the passing game, and through two weeks, those reports have borne some fruit. Thornton has been on the field for 95 total snaps, turning his eight targets into three grabs for 65 yards. While Thornton Jr.'s big-play ability put him on the radar of best ball drafters, he's also worth a look in what is a relatively uninspiring week for waiver pickups. Bech can be dropped in all redraft formats.

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.