2026
2026 season · WR · #0 · 2nd season
Matthew Golden
Age 23 · 5'11" · 191 lb · Texas; Houston · Pick 23 overall (2025). Listed WR2 on the 3WR 1TE depth chart. Snap share 84% across 8 games.
- How goodGolden's +7.2 EPA is 56th of 99 wide receivers.
- Where it comes fromThe biggest share comes in the air (+30.5, 46th percentile per target).
- Fantasy11.1 standard points a game, WR10 of 171.13.8 half-PPR points a game, WR13 of 171.16.4 PPR points a game, WR13 of 171.
- How he's usedMatthew is a downfield target: 29% of his targets travel 20 yards or more, against 18% for the league's receivers.
- LatelyTargets are steady: 12.7 a game over his last three against 10.3 for the season.
- This weekA soft matchup: the Patriots rank 30th vs WR, allowing +0.45 EPA per target to wide receivers.
How good is hehis line against the league at his position
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target shareof team targets | 27% | 13th of 99 | 87th | |
| Depth of targetair yards per target | 14.2 | 20th of 99 | 80th | |
| After the catchyards per reception | 4.5 | 41st of 99 | 59th | |
| Catch ratereceptions per target | 52% | 79th of 99 | 21st | |
| EPA per target | +0.09 | 74th of 99 | 26th |
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First downsper target | 34% | 67th of 99 | 33rd | |
| Drop ratedrops per target, lower is better | 10% | 87th of 99 | 13th | |
| Yards per game | 77.4 | 14th of 99 | 86th | |
| Success rate | 43% | 78th of 99 | 22nd | |
| Total EPA | +7.2 | 56th of 99 | 44th |
How this is measured
Each bar is the league at his position; the marker is him. Right is better, the dashed line is the median. Ranks are out of the qualifying pool, ties shown as T-, and move every week as the pool changes.
Golden scores 11.1 standard points a game, WR10 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 7.0 and 15.3; 4 boom weeks (12+) and 1 bust (under 5). Next up, in Week 9, the Patriots allow the 11th-most standard points to WRs, 21.8 a game.
Golden scores 13.8 half-PPR points a game, WR13 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 8.8 and 18.1; 4 boom weeks (16+) and 0 busts (under 6.5). Next up, in Week 9, the Patriots allow the 12th-most half-PPR points to WRs, 27.8 a game.
Golden scores 16.4 PPR points a game, WR13 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 10.6 and 21.0; 4 boom weeks (20+) and 0 busts (under 8). Next up, in Week 9, the Patriots allow the 10th-most PPR points to WRs, 33.8 a game.
How this is measured
Fantasy points are nflverse's standard and full-PPR scoring (6 points for a rushing or receiving touchdown, 4 for a passing touchdown, minus 2 for an interception or a lost fumble); half PPR is the average of the two. Ranks are points a game among players at his position with at least half the most games played. Most weeks is his 20th to 80th percentile game. Bars are green on a boom week and red on a bust; the dashed line is the starter line, the points a game of the WR24 in a 12-team league. The format you pick is remembered on this device.
How he's usedhis fingerprint, where the ball finds him and when
Matthew is a downfield target: 29% of his targets travel 20 yards or more, against 18% for the league's receivers. He is a straight-dropback target: 7% of his targets come off play action (league 16%). His share of the team's targets is 27%: on third down it climbs to 33%; inside the 20 it climbs to 33%.
How this is measured
Every trait is a share of his own targets, so volume does not move it. The marker is him among the league's qualifying wide receivers; the dashed line is the median. Styles are not grades: a high or low percentile is a description, not a verdict. Play action, screen, RPO, motion and blitz flags come from FTN charting and read low in a week it has not published.
Golden's +7.2 EPA is 56th of 99 wide receivers. The biggest share comes in the air (+30.5, 46th percentile per target). Incompletions cost him more than most (-33.0, 19th percentile).
career +0.38 over 2025 · the lowest of his 2 seasons
How this is measured
Every target this season, split by what happened. Catches divide at the catch: the yards in the air and what came after. The percentile is him among the qualifying wide receivers, higher is better, so a cost smaller than most ranks high. The parts add up to the totals above; the career strip counts seasons with at least 15 targets.
He is targeted deep right 3.5× as often as the league (17% of his targets against 5%) but averages -0.49 EPA a target there.
How this is measured
Every target with a charted depth and direction this season; sacks and throws with no charted direction are left out. Left and right are as the offense sees the field. Cells with fewer than three targets show no EPA.
On the field
By depth of target
Who he works withthe connection, and the rest of the huddle
By depth
Week by weekthe shape of his season, the game log and the defenses behind it
The game
at PatriotsGillette Stadium
NE −3 · O/U 47.5
His history
First meeting this season
His status
A soft matchup: the Patriots rank 30th vs WR, allowing +0.45 EPA per target to wide receivers. He has averaged 72 yards a game against bottom-10 defenses this season.
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Snap | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at MIN L 22-399th D | 9th vs WR | 82% | 12 | 6 | 95 | +0.8 | |
| 2 | at NYJ W 20-1722nd D | 22nd vs WR | 86% | 6 | 4 | 58 | +1.3 | |
| 3 | vs ATL L 14-3519th D | 19th vs WR | 82% | 12 | 5 | 100 | 1 | +4.6 |
| 4 | at TB W 17-141st D | 1st vs WR | 88% | 7 | 3 | 21 | 1 | -1.6 |
| 5 | vs CHI W 31-711th D | 11th vs WR | 77% | 7 | 6 | 123 | +8.6 | |
| 6 | vs DAL W 23-1327th D | 27th vs WR | 84% | 13 | 6 | 104 | 1 | +1.5 |
| 7 | at DET L 17-2024th D | 24th vs WR | 85% | 12 | 6 | 39 | -8.0 | |
| 8 | vs CAR W 27-1910th D | 10th vs WR | 86% | 13 | 7 | 79 | 1 | +0.1 |
| 9 | at NESun Nov 8 · next up | |||||||
| 10 | vs MINSun Nov 15 | |||||||
| 11 | Bye week | |||||||
| 12 | at LAWed Nov 25 | |||||||
| 13 | at NOSun Dec 6 | |||||||
| 14 | vs BUFSun Dec 13 | |||||||
| 15 | vs MIASun Dec 20 | |||||||
| 16 | at CHIFri Dec 25 | |||||||
| 17 | vs HOUMon Jan 4 | |||||||
| 18 | vs DETSun Jan 10 | |||||||
| 8 games | 84% | 82 | 43 | 619 | 4 | +7.2 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Tgt share | Air share | aDOT | YAC | EPA/tgt | 1D | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at MIN L 22-399th D | 9th vs WR | 30% | 29% | 11.4 | 35 | +0.06 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | at NYJ W 20-1722nd D | 22nd vs WR | 21% | 37% | 13.3 | 32 | +0.22 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | vs ATL L 14-3519th D | 19th vs WR | 24% | 51% | 16.6 | 30 | +0.38 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | at TB W 17-141st D | 1st vs WR | 23% | 41% | 12.7 | 9 | -0.24 | 1 | |
| 5 | vs CHI W 31-711th D | 11th vs WR | 23% | 34% | 15.6 | 31 | +1.23 | 5 | |
| 6 | vs DAL W 23-1327th D | 27th vs WR | 33% | 52% | 15.6 | 34 | +0.11 | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | at DET L 17-2024th D | 24th vs WR | 29% | 36% | 13.8 | 0 | -0.67 | 1 | |
| 8 | vs CAR W 27-1910th D | 10th vs WR | 33% | 46% | 14.1 | 22 | +0.01 | 4 | 2 |
| 9 | at NESun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||||
| 10 | vs MINSun Nov 15 | ||||||||
| 11 | Bye week | ||||||||
| 12 | at LAWed Nov 25 | ||||||||
| 13 | at NOSun Dec 6 | ||||||||
| 14 | vs BUFSun Dec 13 | ||||||||
| 15 | vs MIASun Dec 20 | ||||||||
| 16 | at CHIFri Dec 25 | ||||||||
| 17 | vs HOUMon Jan 4 | ||||||||
| 18 | vs DETSun Jan 10 | ||||||||
| 8 games | 27% | 41% | 14.2 | 193 | +0.09 | 28 | 8 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at MIN L 22-399th D | 9th vs WR | 6 | 95 | 15.8 | 2 | |
| 2 | at NYJ W 20-1722nd D | 22nd vs WR | 4 | 58 | 14.5 | ||
| 3 | vs ATL L 14-3519th D | 19th vs WR | 5 | 100 | 20.0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | at TB W 17-141st D | 1st vs WR | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 1 | |
| 5 | vs CHI W 31-711th D | 11th vs WR | 6 | 123 | 20.5 | 2 | |
| 6 | vs DAL W 23-1327th D | 27th vs WR | 6 | 104 | 17.3 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | at DET L 17-2024th D | 24th vs WR | 6 | 39 | 6.5 | 1 | |
| 8 | vs CAR W 27-1910th D | 10th vs WR | 7 | 79 | 11.3 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | at NESun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||
| 10 | vs MINSun Nov 15 | ||||||
| 11 | Bye week | ||||||
| 12 | at LAWed Nov 25 | ||||||
| 13 | at NOSun Dec 6 | ||||||
| 14 | vs BUFSun Dec 13 | ||||||
| 15 | vs MIASun Dec 20 | ||||||
| 16 | at CHIFri Dec 25 | ||||||
| 17 | vs HOUMon Jan 4 | ||||||
| 18 | vs DETSun Jan 10 | ||||||
| 8 games | 43 | 619 | 14.4 | 4 | 11 |
Targets are steady: 12.7 a game over his last three against 10.3 for the season. 8 straight games above a starter's median in targets.
How this is measured
Bars are his week. The shaded band is the league's middle half at his position, every qualifying player-game this season, and the dashed line is its median. The solid line is his trailing three games. An × on the baseline is a game his team played without him; a dotted tick is the bye.
He has faced the 10th-toughest slate vs WR: his opponents rank 15.4 of 32 on average (league middle 16.4). Ahead: 2 of his next 9 are top-10 vs WR and 5 are bottom-10, starting with the Patriots (30th, away) in Week 9.
The slate · played solid, ahead dashed
His line by defense faced
| Defenses | G | Tgt/g | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ranked 1 to 10Top-10 defenses | 3 | 10.7 | 65 | -0.02 |
| 11 to 22Middle | 3 | 8.3 | 94 | +0.58 |
| 23 to 32Bottom-10 | 2 | 12.5 | 72 | -0.26 |
| All games | 8 | 10.3 | 77 | +0.09 |
Yards against the rank of the defense
His production barely moves with the opponent (r = 0.19); it has traveled.
Careerseason by season, back to his rookie year
His best year was 2025, 361 receiving yards in 14 games. This season's 77.4 a game puts him on pace for 1,315 over 17, a career high.
| Season | Team | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/R | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | GB | 14 | 44 | 29 | 361 | 0 | 12.4 | 25.8 | +0.38 |
| 2026 | GB | 8 | 82 | 43 | 619 | 4 | 14.4 | 77.4 | +0.09 |
| Career | 1 tm | 22 | 126 | 72 | 980 | 4 | 13.6 | 44.5 | +0.19 |
How this is measured
Regular season only, from nflverse weekly stats back to 1999. This season is partial and drawn hollow; the pace is his per-game rate over 17 games. Bold cells are career highs.
Intel & playsthe report, his best snaps, his teammates
- Depth chart
- WR2 · 3WR 1TE
- Injury report
- Shoulder, questionable
- Red zone touches
- …
- Third down
- …
- Explosive plays
- …
- Drops
- 8 on 82 targets
- Broken tackles
- 0
- Passer rating when targeted
- 79.2
- Play action
- …
- Contested
- …
| Player | Touches | Yds | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|
 MarShawn LloydRB | 74 | 228 · 3 TD | -20.0 |
 Christian WatsonWR | 66 | 708 · 6 TD | +30.5 |
 Tucker KraftTE | 51 | 355 · 3 TD | +24.1 |
 Josh JacobsRB | 45 | 143 · 3 TD | -2.2 |
 Kaleb JohnsonRB | 31 | 114 | -13.2 |
 Pierre StrongRB | 27 | 87 | -0.2 |
 Chris BrooksRB | 20 | 94 | -0.5 |
 Savion WilliamsWR | 14 | 115 | +8.3 |