{"id":321462,"date":"2025-08-27T10:48:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/321462\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T10:48:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:48:22","slug":"packers-film-room-matthew-golden-against-the-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/321462\/","title":{"rendered":"Packers Film Room: Matthew Golden against the Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (22) makes a 39-yard reception while being covered by Seattle Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (28) during the first quarter of their preseason game Saturday, August 23, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman\/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Going into the third preseason game, we had only seen 1st round WR Matthew Golden on 13 snaps, all in the first preseason game. We got to see him for 16 snaps in the final preseason game, so I wanted to dig in and take a look.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll start with the bad, because I like to get the negatives out of the way first. In this case, there aren\u2019t many of them. For starters, there was a drop. Yes, the ball was high when it didn\u2019t need to be, but he was still able to get a hand on it. It\u2019s nit-picky, but there aren\u2019t a ton of nits to pick so I need to at least bring it up.<\/p>\n

The Packers asked Golden to block in the run game quite a bit. And, while he\u2019s certainly a willing blocker, there are still moments where he doesn\u2019t seem super confident in what he\u2019s supposed to do. That reared its head once this past weekend. He takes a couple steps upfield when it looks like he needs to just angle in and block. As a result, the defender slips right by him.<\/p>\n

If we want to continue to pick at nits, we\u2019ll turn our attention to Golden\u2019s lone catch of the day: a nice adjustment on a deep ball for a 39 yard gain. The catch is spectacular, but gives up too much ground on the route, drifting to the sideline without a cornerback forcing him over to it. If you want to be charitable, you can point out that the whole play feels like a scramble drill, with Malik Willis trying to catch the Seahawks with too many men on the field (must be that 12th man I\u2019ve heard so much about). He doesn\u2019t seem to expect the ball, so he just keeps drifting to the sideline.<\/p>\n

When Willis works over, there\u2019s very little room to fit the ball on the sideline. Willis throws the ball back into the field, and Golden comes up with a great catch.<\/p>\n

You love to see the adjustment and the body control to bring this in, but you\u2019d like to see Golden not drift to the sideline like that.<\/p>\n

Now for some things that I liked. Back in my Week 1 Emptying the Notebook post<\/a>, I talked about the Packers using Golden as an insert blocker. It\u2019s something I didn\u2019t expect to see much from him this season – that\u2019s something that has traditionally been handled by Watson or Wicks – but we\u2019ve seen it a few times from Golden this preseason. I don\u2019t know how much they plan on putting him in that position during the season, but, if it\u2019s something they think he can handle, it will go a long way to making sure he is able to get on the field as much as possible. Golden working as an insert blocker would be a nice way of getting him on the field in 12 personnel packages (2 TE sets) and could potentially open the door to get Jayden Reed on the field a bit more in those looks.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t been a lockdown blocker in those situations, but he\u2019s willing to stick his nose into the line as a blocker and he\u2019s not getting bullied. That\u2019s a good start.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t just been the insert blocking that has stood out. When asked to be a blocker in the run game, Golden has done a nice job (the exception being the clip I posted a little earlier). I don\u2019t ask much from wide receivers in the blocking game on the perimeter: know where you\u2019re supposed to be and get in decent position. There doesn\u2019t need to be any big movement: just get in the way and lose slowly. So far, Golden has shown to be a willing blocker who knows how to get in the way and doesn\u2019t shy away from contact.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t really see him run many routes, so it\u2019s tough to glean too much from that. We saw the big catch off a vertical route earlier. He had one other vertical route, which was basically a clear-out route on 4th down. He gets bodied a bit down the field, but maintains his feet and creates late separation.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll close things out with this nifty route from a stack. He sets up the defender for an outside release before breaking back inside and throwing on the brakes for a curl.<\/p>\n

This is the kind of thing I think we\u2019ll see a lot of from Golden this season. There\u2019s a smoothness and suddenness to his movements. Really looking forward to seeing what he does once the games start to count.<\/p>\n

Albums listened to: Superchunk – Songs in the Key of Yikes; The Aces – Gold Star Baby; Wolf Alice – The Clearing<\/p>\n

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