Who Should I Start? Rome Odunze or Matthew Golden

Thursday, January 29, 12:00 PM

Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze was a popular preseason breakout candidate in fantasy football going into his sophomore campaign in 2025, mainly because of new head coach Ben Johnson. Fantasy managers who drafted Odunze were stoked early on, as he caught 20 of his 35 targets for 296 yards and five touchdowns in the first four weeks. That's where the good news last season ended, as the 23-year-old second-year pass-catcher only had one 100-yard game and scored just one more touchdown all year to finish with a 44-661-6 line in 12 games. Odunze missed the final five games of the regular season due to a stress fracture in his foot, and he caught four of his 12 targets for 88 yards in two postseason contests. It was a disappointing end to what could have been a second-year breakout. The good news is that he won't need surgery on his foot, and his chemistry with rising young quarterback Caleb Williams is strong. There's still a lot of upside with Odunze, but the emergence of young receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland could cap his ceiling in the years to come.

Thursday, January 29, 4:36 PM

As his team's first first-round wide receiver selection since 2002, Green Bay Packers wideout Matthew Golden entered the 2025 season with plenty of hype. However, the 22-year-old failed to carve out a consistent role as a rookie, finishing the year with 29 receptions for 381 yards and zero touchdowns on 44 targets across 14 regular-season games. From Week 9 onwards, Golden played fewer than 50% of Green Bay's offensive snaps in every game but two. With another offseason to develop chemistry with Packers quarterback Jordan Love and earn the trust of his coaching staff, Golden could be in line for a significantly larger role in 2026. However, Green Bay will likely still roster plenty of competition for playing time at the wide receiver position, even with veteran wideout Romeo Doubs set to hit free agency. Between Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Dontayvion Wicks, Golden will have to fight for playing time with three wide receivers who were all ahead of him on the team's depth chart at different times in 2025. While he remains an intriguing long-term prospect, Golden's value to fantasy managers in dynasty leagues has taken a hit relative to where it was this time last year.