It’s been 72 years since the Green Bay Packers had a rookie wide receiver eclipse 1,000 yards receiving. The last rookie wide receiver to accomplish that feat for the Packers was Billy Howton in 1952, when he posted 1,231 yards in 12 games and averaged 23.2 yards per reception.

Matthew Golden will begin his quest to break that 72-year record on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The Packers selected Golden with the 23rd overall pick in April’s draft, marking the first time the franchise has selected a wide receiver in the first round since 2002.

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The former Texas Longhorn will make his highly anticipated debut in front of a Lambeau Field crowd and will do so as Jordan Love’s No. 1 option.

Even with Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks expected to suit up, Golden should see plenty of work during his debut and will provide Green Bay’s offense with a dynamic playmaker that they lacked when Christian Watson was off the field last season.

“Obviously he has elite speed,” Brian Gutekunst said following the selection of Golden. “His ability to stretch the field outside the numbers is really, really important. When you watch him, we thought he arguably had some of the best hands in the draft…He’s a strong athlete…He’s going to do a lot of things.”

All summer, Golden has received praise from the general manager, his head coach, his position coach and his quarterback.

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Now, the games matter and it’s time to find out if Golden can hit the ground running and handle the pressure that comes with being the team’s top wide receiver.

The last rookie wide receiver to have a 100-yard receiving game for the Packers was Christian Watson during the 2022 season.

I expect Golden to eclipse the 100-yard mark today in his NFL debut with a predicted stat line of six receptions for 102 yards.

Green Bay was buzzing after the Packers selected Golden in the first round on draft night. The city of Green Bay will be buzzing again if Golden puts together a strong performance in his professional debut.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers rookie to watch for Week 1: Debut of Matthew Golden