NFL Draft

1/15/25

6 min read

2025 NFL Draft: Texas' Matthew Golden Is This Year's Most Underrated Receiver

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden (2) runs the ball during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden (2) runs the ball during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies. Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.

Unlike previous years, the 2025 NFL Draft class doesn't feature a loaded roster of wide receiver prospects, but Texas Longhorns wideout Matthew Golden has the chance to be one of the top players in the group.

After a strong year for the Longhorns, Golden announced that he would forego his senior year to declare for the NFL Draft. He transferred to Texas for the 2024 season after playing his first two years at Houston and quickly emerged as one of Quinn Ewers' top targets, catching 58 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns.

Now that he's declared, the buzz around Golden is starting to grow. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah went as far as saying that the Texas wideout could compete with the likes of Tetairoa McMillan for WR1 in the 2025 draft class.

The stats seem good, but the average fan might be surprised to hear Golden being spoken of so highly. However, once you turn on the tape, it's easy to see why the Texas receiver is rapidly flying up draft boards everywhere.

Vertical Threat

If there's one thing that immediately stands out when watching Golden, it's his ability to push the field vertically.

Coming in at 6-foot, 195 pounds, Golden is a natural speedster with burst and explosiveness to take off downfield. According to Pro Football Focus, Golden caught 59.1 percent of his targets on passes 20-plus yards downfield for 438 yards and four touchdowns, with a passer rating of 124.1 when targeted deep.

When Golden can turn on the burners, it's difficult for defensive backs to catch up with him.

In addition to speed, Golden also possesses good deep-ball tracking, allowing him to get underneath the ball and catch it over his shoulder. Texas receivers, starting with the likes of Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell, have developed a reputation during the last few seasons for excelling at this trait.

This is the kind of top-end play speed that teams covet at the NFL level, but it's not the only part of Golden's game that makes him such an appealing draft prospect.

Separation

Thanks to that explosiveness and speed, combined with great foot quickness, Golden continues to develop as a lethal route runner.

A lot of receivers in the NFL can show good technique as route runners but will sacrifice a tick of their speed in order to focus on footwork and sharp cuts. That isn't the case for Golden, who can snap off routes at their stem without sacrificing any speed, making it so difficult to stick with him in man coverage.

Golden also possesses legitimate deceleration ability, an underrated trait for speedsters at the position. As a consistent threat deep downfield, Golden can gear down quickly, keeping defensive backs on their toes and maximizing his separation on curl and comeback routes.

That route running also shows up for Golden when he takes off deep downfield. Once he reaches top gear, the Texas wideout can attack leverage while still manipulating defenders with his eyes and shoulders on double moves, including this corner-post route against Arizona State.

Golden has the skill set to have a fully-developed route tree by the time he hits the field in Week 1 as a rookie. That should allow him to hit the ground running and become an immediate contributor to an NFL team.

Acrobat

For a receiver that's not exactly a big-bodied outside threat, Golden still brings excellent body control and physicality to the position.

When Golden has to catch the ball when it's not hitting him in stride, he's capable of contorting his body and snatching the ball out of the air while also showing awareness near the sideline to find a way to get his feet in bounds.

This rep against Arizona State in the College Football Playoff is a great example of that body control, coming away with a crucial catch on fourth down to move the chains

Even as a smaller receiver, Golden has no problem high-pointing footballs in traffic. Per PFF, he caught 11-of-16 contested-catch opportunities this season, which is a surprisingly high conversion rate for a sub-200-pound wideout. It's his body control and vertical leaping ability that continue to show out during these opportunities.

Too many smaller receivers can struggle in these situations, but Golden is such an ideal blend of speed and body control that he can do a little bit of everything as a pass catcher.

What's the Downside?

Like virtually every prospect, Golden isn't perfect, even if he's capable of doing so much as a receiver.

Drops are something to monitor for Golden, although it isn't as big of a concern as it is for other receiver prospects. He has 14 drops in three college seasons with a 9.4 percent drop rate. He did have a career-best drop rate of just 6.5 percent in 2024. Drops typically aren't a sticky stat for receivers once they hit the NFL, but it's something teams might have questions about, even if he showed improvement this past season.

Some teams will also question Golden's size as an outside receiver and how that will translate as a blocker in the run game. He's shown flashes of effort at times as a blocker, but adequate play strength and a slighter frame could hurt him on this front without proper coaching.

Still, everything else about Golden's game suggests that he has the tools to be a first-round prospect, especially with a strong pre-draft process and good athletic testing scores at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.


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