GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers first-round rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden has shown the last two games why he can be quarterback Jordan Love’s most trusted target, if he’s not that already.

It was Golden whom Love targeted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers’ 24-yard line in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, and Golden who delivered to extend the eventual game-tying drive. Against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, Love targeted Golden on third-and-9 from the Packers’ 40-yard line with about two and a half minutes remaining and Green Bay leading by six. The 22-year-old delivered again after an impressive throw by Love on the move to his left, which Golden corralled after making a mid-route adjustment to cut in front of safety Jordan Battle and come back to the quarterback on a scramble drill instead of going over the top per the original route.

3rd and 9… Matthew Golden is there ⭐️

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— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025

The 31-yard gain extended a drive that ended in a 39-yard field goal to put the Packers up nine with 1:52 left and all but end the game.

While Love has targeted Golden in two of the most critical situations this season, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that his quarterback doing so isn’t necessarily a result of Love trusting Golden the most or trusting Golden more than he did to start the season.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily premeditated,” LaFleur said. “I think he’s got confidence in whoever’s in the right spot. I would tell you that he’s going to him based on what the coverage is … M.G.’s making the plays.

“He’s always had confidence in him, and M.G.’s maximizing those opportunities and doing a great job and showing strong hands.”

Even so, the rookie is beginning to flash more why the Packers drafted a receiver in the first round this year for the first time since 2002. After a combined four targets and four touches (two rushes) in the season’s first two games, Golden has seven, six and five touches in the last three games, respectively, totaling 12 catches on 15 targets for 196 yards and six rushes for 30 yards over that span. Golden’s 15.1 yards per catch this season also ranks 15th in the NFL and leads the Packers. Golden has yet to find the end zone, but it’s becoming more evident that good things happen when the Packers put the ball in his hands.

“I think he’s a guy that we’re going to keep trying to get going and keep finding ways to get him the ball because he’s done some really good things,” Love said of Golden. “It’s always about trying to spread it around, but he’s definitely a very explosive playmaker and just got to keep finding ways to get it to him.”

Golden’s recent emergence must mean the Packers will feed him the ball more, right? Not so fast.

Even if the rookie becomes or already is the team’s most talented wide receiver, that doesn’t mean he’ll have Davante Adams-esque stat lines in Green Bay of double-digit catches and 100-plus yards with a touchdown or two. Even if it makes sense to feed Golden far more than the Packers have, that’s simply not how their passing game works.

“I know everybody wants us to force-feed guys the ball, but that’s really not how we’ve done it around here, and I don’t plan on changing that,” LaFleur said. “That’s the beauty of having a lot of guys that we have a lot of confidence in. We have confidence that we can put anybody in the situation and try to have plays off of plays, and a lot of it is dictated off the coverages, however teams are playing us, and the quarterback’s role is to make sure the ball’s going in the right place based on what the defense presents. And whoever gets those catches, they get them.”

The Packers are a fantasy football fanatic’s worst nightmare. Their leader in targets, wide receiver Romeo Doubs with 28, ranks tied for 64th in the NFL in targets. Green Bay is one of only six teams to have its bye week already, but the point remains. That approach hasn’t hurt the Packers’ offense, which ranks eighth in points per game and 10th in passing yards per game. The Packers are also one of only two teams to not target a single player at least 10 times in a game this season. The other team? The Pittsburgh Steelers. I wonder if the quarterbacks of those two teams have anything in common.

Even if Golden is disgruntled about his usage deep down, given he wants to be a No. 1 receiver, he doesn’t sound like he is.

“I definitely would love to be that guy, but it’s just playing a role,” Golden said after Sunday’s game against the Bengals. “Whenever your number is called, whatever opportunities you get, you gotta make the most of them and whatever situation I’m put in to make a play with the ball or even a block, I’m gonna do my best, and I’m gonna try to make it … Obviously you want to get in the end zone, but there’s nothing better than winning. We came out with the win. That’s all that matters. I feel like, for me, that’s a selfish thing, saying ‘I want to get in the end zone.’ If we winning, that’s all that matters. I know that’s gonna come and when they do, it’s gonna come at the right time.”

Sometimes, LaFleur will be asked about a player and give one of his stock answers praising them. The answers don’t always sound earnest, but the head coach held a different tone when asked about Golden’s growth this week.

“I think he’s made a lot of strides,” LaFleur said. “I really do … I’m really excited about where he’s going and where he could go, and I think he’ll continue to get there because the guy approaches the game the right way.”

LaFleur noted the importance of all three of Golden’s receptions against the Bengals, a 20-yard gain on second-and-9 in the first quarter to get into Bengals territory, a 35-yard gain down the left sideline on third-and-10 in the second quarter to do the same and the aforementioned 31-yarder when it mattered most. LaFleur also mentioned Golden’s impressive contact balance on an 8-yard gain for a first down on a jet sweep and his improved blocking in the run game. Not to mention that on Golden’s three first-quarter touches, he forced four missed tackles.

Wide receiver Christian Watson will return soon, and eventually Jayden Reed will, too. There will be even more mouths to feed in the passing game than just Golden, Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs, which will make it even harder to get the rookie touches he’s proven to deserve.

That’s why they pay LaFleur and Love the big bucks, though, to make those tough decisions. No matter how the Packers disperse the ball over the coming weeks and months or how much Golden is involved, one thing is clear of late. The kid is a dynamic playmaker the Packers need to and will involve in both the passing and running game, just not as much as everyone outside the building might like.