Paul Bretl | 4/9/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Is this the year that the Packers finally take a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL draft? A few of the prospects that Green Bay has had in for official 30 visits tell us that it is at least on their radar.
As we all know, the Packers haven’t drafted a wide receiver in the first round since the team selected Javon Walker out of Florida State back in 2002. While that’s how things have played out, it’s of course not intentional on the Packers’ part.
“It’s funny,” said GM Brian Gutekunst back at the NFL combine, “it’s never been a philosophical thing we’ve talked about through my time in Green Bay, which goes back quite a while. It’s never been something, where, hey don’t want to take wide receivers in the first round. There’s certainly opportunities we’ve had that we thought that was going to happen and for whatever reason it didn’t.”
Hit like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel ‘The Paul Bretl Show’ for more Packers coverage.
As of now, it’s been reported that Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden and Ohio State wideout Emeka Egbuka have visited with the Packers. Golden seems pretty well cemented into being a first-round selection, while Egbuka could go in the latter portion of the first round or potentially early on in the second round.
Golden will bring speed to an offense. Measuring in at 5-11 and weighing 191 pounds, he posted a 4.3-second 40 time. The 2024 season was Golden’s first at Texas after spending two seasons at Houston, where he was also featured in that offense.
In this most recent season, Golden was very reliable, catching 70% of his 83 targets while averaging a whopping 17.0 yards per catch with nine touchdowns, per PFF. With that speed, Golden had 22 targets of 20-plus yards, and that downfield presence is an element the Packers need to have while without Christian Watson.
However, Golden’s target share was spread around, with him regularly attacking all levels of the field. That ability, coupled with lining up both inside and out makes him a good fit for the Matt LaFleur offense, where the wide receiver roles can often be interchangeable.
“The one-on-one routes to the boundary, I can get open to the boundary,” Golden said. “I can change my tempo, my speeds and be able to snap down and comeback to the quarterback. I can stretch the field vertically. I also like to be in the run game. I take a lot of pride in blocking.”
Egbuka, meanwhile, doesn’t have the same athletic testing numbers that Golden does, but he comes to the NFL extremely polished and has good size at 6-0 – 202 pounds. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com notes Egbuka’s ball skills and calls him “competitive” and someone who can “squeeze out additional yardage.”
Egbuka has been a big part of the Ohio State offense for three seasons. This includes eclipsing 100 targets in two of those seasons and going over 1,000 receiving yards in each of those years as well.
The bulk of his playing time has come from the slot, but at his size and with his ball skills, he does potentially have the skill set to line up outside as well, which will be important for the Packers.
Last season, roughly two-thirds of Egbuka’s targets came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, where he then ranked 32nd among eligible receivers in average YAC per reception.
“He’d be a great fit for somebody that wants plug and play, for a team that’s ready to win right now,” Daniel Jeremiah said during a pre-Scouting Combine conference call.
With the Packers’ passing game sputtering late last season, the team is in search of more consistency from the wide receiver position heading into the new year.
Dropped passes throughout the 2024 season were an issue for this team. In addition to that, LaFleur mentioned after the Week 17 loss to Minnesota, against the Vikings’ unexpected heavy usage of man coverage, the Packers didn’t win their routes consistently enough or quickly enough. Then in the playoff loss to Philadelphia, LaFleur brought up that on two of the interceptions thrown by Jordan Love, receivers weren’t running their routes with the proper detail that was needed to put them in the proper positions.
These are just a few examples–but big examples in crucial games–of things that went awry over a long NFL season. But, to a degree, these performances also seemed to be a microcosm of what we saw from the receiver position on and off during the year.
“You’d like to have somebody move into that space,” Gutekunst said of having a No. 1 receiver, “but, at the same time, I’d like multiple guys to be able to move into that space. What I’m looking for is guys that, when they’re called upon, can perform at a high level. I think we have a lot of guys that have done that.”
Of course, spending a first-round pick on a receiver doesn’t mean the passing game is solved and the Packers now have their go-to WR1. Maybe Golden or Egbuka can be that player, but assuming that is going to happen comes with obvious risks.
Also, it’s not as if the Packers’ current receiver room is void of talent either. Improved play is needed, certainly, but Green Bay believes they already have several candidates on the roster who can be that go-to target in crucial moments.
And, not to be forgotten in all of this, when it comes to operating within the LaFleur offense and at the NFL level in general, the third and fourth-year receivers that the Packers have on the roster already are–at least initially–going to be ahead of any incoming rookies.
“I think we’re certainly looking for these guys that we have currently to take a step into that role where they are more consistent on the down-down basis,” Gutekunst said of the receiver position after the season. “Certainly, if there’s somebody outside of our building, whether it’s the draft, free agency, that makes some sense for us, we’ll certainly look to do that, but we’re also looking for these guys to continue to grow and hopefully grow into that space.”
So, instead of waiting for WR1 to just walk through the doors, the catalyst for improved play is still likely going to have to be competition, which Golden or Egbuka, if the Packers go that route, can very much add. This will help raise the level of urgency within that room, whether it be competing for a roster spot, playing time, or targets, and in turn, that then hopefully elevates the entire room as a whole, and provides that consistency.