Who Should I Start? Terry McLaurin or Matthew Golden

Wednesday, September 10, 4:01 PM

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was slow out of the gate in Week 1 against the Giants, catching two of his four targets for 27 yards. A slow start to the season could have been somewhat expected for McLaurin after limited practice time amidst his contract negotiations. The talk of a slow start could have been mitigated if he and Jayden Daniels were able to connect on a deep shot where McLaurin had his man beat badly on a double move. With the new acquisition, Deebo Samuel Sr. making his team debut, play caller Kliff Kingsbury made an emphasis to get Samuel involved, and he has established a good connection with Daniels after McLaurin missed a lot of time in training camp. A positive, at least for McLaurin, is that he did not face any restrictions regarding his snap count and routes. The star receiver started slow last season as he built rapport with Daniels, and should be expected to bounce back against an exploitable Green Bay secondary. McLaurin has faced the Packers three times in his career and has put up strong numbers, catching 16 of 27 targets for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He should be viewed as a mid-range WR2 with upside in a projected high-scoring Week 2 matchup against the Packers.

Wednesday, September 10, 5:23 PM

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (ankle) was a limited participant on Monday with an ankle injury, but put in two full practices to come off the injury report as the Packers host the Commanders in Week 2. Golden caught both of his targets for 16 yards on a day where the Packers' passing game wasn't too busy in their 27-13 victory over the Lions. Quarterback Jordan Love only needed 22 pass attempts to dispatch Detroit, and it was more of the same dating back to the post-bye Packers from 2024 as they opted to run the ball more than pass. The lack of passing volume from Green Bay hampers the upside of some of the passing game's weapons, like Golden. That said, Golden does have massive upside in this offense, and the Packers spent a first-round pick on his services, so Golden's offensive involvement will increase game by game. For fantasy, consider Golden an upside-laden flex play for Week 2.