Four games into the Green Bay Packers‘ 2025 season, Matthew Golden has already firmly established himself as an important part of the offense, while several other rookies have contributed in some form or fashion early in the year.
Here is how the Packers’ rookie class has fared in the two games leading them into the bye week:
WR Matthew Golden
As expected, Golden is becoming more involved in Green Bay’s offense with each passing week. After being targeted just two times in each of the first two games, he had four targets against Cleveland and six against Dallas.
Golden was targeted on 17.6% of his routes against the Cowboys, a career high, and also caught a career-high five passes. He hit new career highs in receiving yards in each of the last two games with 52 versus Cleveland and 58 against Dallas.
After spending most of his time on the boundary in Weeks 1-3, Golden’s usage was flipped against the Cowboys, as he lined up in the slot 75% of the time. It will be interesting to see if that sticks, especially with Watson nearly back as another boundary option, or was game specific.
The receiver is making good on his increased opportunities, making several big plays in the last couple of games.
It is still a little unclear from the tape whether it was him or Dontayvion Wicks who was at fault for the two being too close to each other on Golden’s long catch against the Cowboys, but he made an impressive adjustment regardless, turning his body with traffic around him to haul it in.
On his crucial fourth down catch in overtime, Golden paced his route well, gearing up to threaten deep, before breaking off his route at the right time and staying calm to bring in Jordan Love’s pass, knowing defenders were closing quickly.
As advertised, he has been a safe pair of hands so far and does not have a drop on the season.
In the absence of Jayden Reed, Golden has been Green Bay’s primary motion man before the snap, catching quick hitters, running wheel routes, lining up in the backfield in two-back sets so he can be used on orbit motions and play fakes, and even taking some handoffs on jet sweeps.
Golden has been given plenty of opportunities to pick up yards after the catch, but his success has been mixed. His speed is useful and helps him to gain yards, but he lacks the feel for making defenders miss or following blocks, and does not have the play strength to break tackles.
The route running chops have been evident every week. Golden is very smooth and when running short out routes against off coverage, it is essentially free yardage for the Packers offense due to how quickly he can put his foot in the ground and snap off his route.
There have been multiple instances of him getting open deeper downfield but not getting the ball due to Love running out of time, as pass protection has been an issue at times.
His deep routes have more functioned as clearouts than anything else in the last two weeks, and on crossing routes against man coverage he has not been able to gain much separation, which can be difficult versus that coverage, but the speed has not shown up there yet.
Golden’s blocking is still a mixed bag. He has got the job done to help spring quick receiver or tight end screens at times, but is still struggling when asked to block closer to the ball at the snap.
He has sometimes not been on the field in heavier packages, which has meant there are red zone or goal line series where he is not involved at all. Golden needs to continue to show he can be trusted to block moving forwards.
OT Anthony Belton
Belton did not play in Week 4, but was thrust into action mid game back in Week 3 and endured a difficult afternoon.
He played the previous week against Washington and took some lumps but did not allow a pressure, however, Belton gave up three versus Cleveland in what was admittedly a tougher assignment, thrown in against an elite defense and even having to switch positions at one stage.
In pass protection, there were some strong reps where he was able to absorb a pass rusher’s initial blow and settled in, even when facing Myles Garrett, but there were also plenty of moments where he looked like a rookie.
Belton’s feet are just fine and enable him to get enough depth in his pass set, but his hand usage is still getting him in trouble, as he too often misses with his initial punch, causing him to get pushed into Jordan Love’s lap.
He struggled to control defenders when he did latch on, allowing them to impact the quarterback or wriggle away later in the rep and make plays on the ball.
In the run game, Belton found success when crashing down the line of scrimmage and clearing out defenders to open up holes, using his impressive power, but he also gave up too much penetration at times, muddying the picture for his running back.
The Packers were probably not expecting to need Belton so early, and he is still very much a work in progress in terms of the level of technique required to hold up against NFL level defenders.
WR/KR Savion Williams
Matt LaFleur has continued to find creative ways to get Williams involved on offense, and he has been getting more work recently. He had three targets against Dallas after earning only one in the first three games.
He has mostly lined up in the backfield either in two-back sets or even as the lone running back, and from there, Williams has run routes, been used as a decoy, and taken handoffs at different times.
Against Dallas, Green Bay successfully ran a fun play where Williams was the running back and Josh Jacobs lined up on the boundary and picked up solid yardage on a reception.
Williams has taken multiple Wildcat quarterback snaps, and so far, getting the ball in his hands has led to positive results for the Packers offense. He also threw a lateral pass to Jordan Love on a double pass trick play.
He has been targeted a couple of times as a traditional receiver on quick hitters, and his feel for how to navigate space with the ball in his hands has been notable. It might be time to give him more of those kinds of opportunities than Golden, who has a different skillset.
His size is also a factor in the run game, and he helped spring a run against the Cowboys with a nice open field block at the second level.
The signs from Williams have been positive so far, and as the season goes on, he could build on his gadget role and become a more consistent and valuable part of Green Bay’s offense.
DL Nazir Stackhouse
Stackhouse racked up only 21 snaps in weeks one to three, before being forced into a more prominent role in Week 4 after Devonte Wyatt left the game with a knee injury, playing 27 snaps.
In general, he is not having much impact in the run game yet, which will need to be his calling card. There have been times he has made himself difficult to move off the ball one on one, or successfully plugged against double teams, but these are too few and far between right now.
More often he is being handled fairly easily by doubles, and when given reps in goal line defense, could not generate any push into the backfield, although he has shown the ability to quickly sidestep offensive linemen at the snap in these situations and get himself free.
Stackhouse has not been able to shed blocks in the run game and make plays on the ball with any regularity so far.
There is still not much to talk about as a pass rusher. Stackhouse is not putting any moves on offensive linemen, and if he gets caught on the field on a pass play, it feels like a waste.
He gets push eventually with a slow burn pass rush, and did knock the Cowboys center into Dak Prescott’s lap on one play, but it was an anomaly.
Stackhouse is an undrafted rookie, so expectations should be tempered, but fair or not, the Packers need him at the moment. He does play with consistent effort and has cleaned up plays through his willingness to pursue the ball, but his overall impact has been muted so far.
DE Barryn Sorrell
Sorrell has had a handful of snaps as a pass rusher in each of the last three games but has had zero pressures in the last two. He is not having much of an impact of late when given one on one opportunities, and when asked to stunt, often ends up simply running into a mass of bodies.
He was caught rushing too aggressively upfield on a run play in the red zone against Dallas, and still needs to develop his understanding and discipline to see the field more regularly.