Who Should I Start? Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Matthew Golden

Wednesday, September 16, 6:28 AM

All offseason, plenty of buzz suggested Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden was a prime candidate to make a big Year 2 leap. That started to come to fruition on Sunday, as Golden caught six of 12 targets for 95 yards in the Packers' Week 1 loss to the Vikings. In addition to the high volume and yardage total, he also saw the field quite often, taking on an 82% snap share. Golden has officially solidified himself as the Packers' No. 2 receiver over Jayden Reed, who played just 57% of the snaps. Golden's emergence as a weekly fantasy threat is great news for managers who drafted him in the first round of dynasty league drafts last year, and also for redraft managers who got a potential steal in the back half of 2026 fantasy drafts. It also bodes well for the Packers' offense, which needed more receivers to step up after Josh Jacobs' placement on the commissioner's exempt list may have shifted the team's approach from run-heavy to pass-heavy. Golden is still behind Christian Watson on the depth chart, but all that matters is that the Texas product is on the fantasy radar and he's here to stay. He ranks as a low-end WR2 or high-end WR3 for Week 2 against the New York Jets.