Packers WR Matthew Golden led the team with 86 receiving yards in Sunday's win over the Bengals. His five targets tied for second on the team, and Golden secured three of them. His playing time, however, might have revealed an issue.
Golden played 69% of Green Bay's total snaps. That nearly matched his season high from Week 3. But he ran a route on just 68% of the team's dropbacks. That marked a slight dip from his 72% rate in Week 4, which declined vs. his 84% route rate in Week 3.
Sunday's route decrease followed a Week 5 bye, which seems especially worrisome. Golden ranked second among Packers wideouts in routes, but he got help on that front when Dontayvion Wicks left early with an ankle injury.
Besides WR Romeo Doubs, Golden also trailed TE Tucker Kraft in routes and tied RB Josh Jacobs. Golden also ran just eight more routes than WR Malik Heath.
This lone game doesn't necessarily show regression in Golden's development, but we'd like to see more growth for the first-round rookie, especially coming out of the bye.
Green Bay's distribution of playing time and targets also faces the challenges of WR Christian Watson's nearing return and the eventual return this season of WR Jayden Reed.
We'll see about the outlooks for Wicks and Watson for next Sunday's visit to Arizona. But Golden belongs in WR4 territory for now.
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