2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Texas WR Matthew Golden
All my scouting notes on the strengths, concerns, usage/role, skill set summary, NFL comparison and grade/projection for Texas WR Matthew Golden
Texas WR Matthew Golden
Height: 5-11
Weight: 191
Arm Length: 30 5/8 inches
Hand Size: 9 1/2 inches
Birthdate: 8/1/03 (22 year-old rookie)
Production: 36 games, 134 catches, 1,975 yards, 22 touchdowns
Injuries: None
Games Watched: Arizona State, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Georgia (SEC Championship)
Scouting Notes
After the Combine, most will lead Golden’s profile by talking about his speed. He doesn’t play 4.29 fast, but he’s easily fast enough to run by defenders in the NFL, so I’m not worried about the semantics of the exact time. What I like most about Golden is that he runs right up through off coverage, forcing defenders to avoid him with excellent footwork or grab him and draw flags. He’s extremely physical at the top of his routes, pushing right through contact and knocking cornerbacks off balance to get over the top or to break his routes off.
Because of Golden’s compact frame and center of gravity, his balance and play strength are some of his best attributes. It’s hard for cornerbacks to really disrupt him as a route runner, and he welcomes contact at all levels of the field. There’s a confidence to his game that shows up in his physicality and doggedness when the ball is in the air too.
Because of his 4.29 speed and 1.49 10-yard split, it’s a little disappointing that Golden doesn’t show that kind of acceleration and twitch on the field. He’s a perfectly solid athlete, but he’s not the blur off the line of scrimmage, out of his route breaks or with the ball in his hands that those times suggest. That’s probably why everyone was so surprised he wasn’t the 4.40 guy he looks like on tape. You just didn’t see him pull away from people with that easy burst very often this season.
But if the biggest knock against you is that you’re a good, not elite athlete on tape, you’re doing ok! There simply aren’t many weaknesses to Golden’s game, from his ball skills in contested catch situations, to how easily he elevates and plucks the ball outside his frame, to his quick transition to runner after he snags the ball. Golden has a really strong all-around game, with speed and strength to play outside, and the toughness and route-running to play inside as needed.
The junior wasn’t asked to block a ton in Texas’s offense, but I thought he did an adequate job when he did engage. Golden’s balance and physicality show up at times as a blocker, but I’m not sure he’s big enough to handle much box work at the next level. He needs to rely on angles and scrappiness to get by on the edges of a defense, rather than uprooting defenders in the box. That could limit his fit as a slot receiver to certain teams, but Golden’s versatility in the pass game is still a real strength. He should appeal to a lot of offenses thanks to his well-rounded skill set.
A few side notes: drops were a problem in the past, but seemed to be cleaned up this year. Only four drops on 83 targets, after 10 on 119 targets at Houston. He also had issues with ball tracking and finishing plays at Houston, but those really didn’t show up in his Texas tape. In fact, I would say his ball skills were a clear strength this past season. Has he truly moved past those issues? Or will the larger sample size bring those struggles back to life?
The other concern would be that Golden wasn’t the focal point of Texas’s offense the way Tet McMillan was for Arizona, so we haven’t really seen defenses key on shutting him down, or even recognize him as a high volume threat.
I’m not sure Golden will ever be a tier 1 wide receiver in the NFL, at least how we traditionally think of that designation. But he’s a really good prospect who can help a team right away and still could improve some as a route runner and blocker. Golden’s level of competitiveness, speed and ball skills in a smaller package remind me a good bit of Terry McLaurin, who was admittedly a bit bigger than Golden. Because Golden plays strong, I don’t think his size will be a major issue, but most of the best receivers in football are bigger than him. His peak is probably settling somewhere as a tier 2 receiver in the league, outside the realm of the true elites, but capable of being McLaurin-esque if he continues to develop.
Grade/Projection
Golden grades out as a second rounder for me, which means I think he’ll be a very good starter by year three. I think there is a real chance that he is the first receiver off the board in the first round.