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Should you draft Emeka Egbuka or Matthew Golden in 2025 dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts? Joey Pollizze breaks down the profiles and landing spots for Egbuka and Golden.
It has been a couple of exciting weeks for dynasty managers. Those in dynasty leagues paid extra close attention to the 2025 NFL Draft last month. Seeing where Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Tetairoa McMillan, and Quinshon Judkins would land could make or break their dynasty value in Year 1 and beyond.
In this article, we will look closer at two wideouts who went in the first round of April's draft and determine which wideout is the better player to choose in dynasty formats. Emeka Egbuka was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 19th overall pick, and Matthew Golden was taken by the Green Bay Packers with the 23rd overall pick.
So, should fantasy managers be selecting Egbuka or Golden in rookie drafts? Who could have the better NFL career? Let's dive in and find out.
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Emeka Egbuka College Production, NFL Fit, Outlook
Egbuka played all four of his college seasons at Ohio State, where he shared a wide receiver room with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Marvin Harrison Jr. over the years. As a result, it wasn't a surprise to see him get limited playing time in his freshman campaign in 2021. He only caught nine passes for 91 yards that year.
However, once Olave and Wilson left for the draft, Egbuka broke out in his second college season with the Buckeyes. He caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns across 13 games. It's obvious that the Washington native took his game to the next level in 2022 and had the makings to be a very good wideout in the NFL one day.
Although he took a step back in 2023, he returned to being a dominant college wideout last year. The 22-year-old totaled 81 catches for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns while mostly operating in the slot.
The biggest thing to take away from Egbuka's 2024 season was that he caught most of his passes near the line of scrimmage. His 7.9 average depth of target ranked tied for 435th in FBS, and he totaled 193 yards on screens alone. The wideout also ranked tied for 165th in yards after the catch (5.9).
But Egbuka showcased a lot of great things in that final season. He finished with an 82.4 PFF receiving grade and ranked top-35 in the country in slot catches (60), slot yards (785), and contest catches (13). His two best games this past year came when he totaled five catches for 117 yards and one touchdown against Marshall and 10 catches for 93 yards and one touchdown against Oregon.
Given his all-around game, Egbuka was an easy pick for the Buccaneers in the middle of the first round. Even though this selection was a surprise to most, Tampa Bay wanted to continue adding playmakers for Baker Mayfield in the passing game. The Ohio State product was the second true wide receiver off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, only behind McMillan.
A good look at Buccaneers first round pick Emeka Egbuka from Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/oWYBr8trmf
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) May 9, 2025
At first glance, this might not have been the best landing spot for Egbuka. Mike Evans is the clear WR1 in this offense, Chris Godwin just received a massive three-year, $66 million contract in the offseason, and second-year wideout Jalen McMillan showed some encouraging things in his rookie campaign. McMillan averaged 4.8 catches, 63.2 yards, and 1.4 touchdowns per game over the last five weeks of the season.
So, dynasty managers might not get much fantasy production from Egbuka in Year 1. Even if he plays over McMillan in three-wide receiver sets, he faces an uphill battle to have a significant target share in his rookie season, considering both Evans and Godwin are with the team. Still, Egbuka could be a fantastic pick in the middle of the first round of rookie drafts.
This situation could be very similar to Smith-Njigba. He didn't see many opportunities in his first year behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but he eventually earned his way on the field in Year 2. With Evans entering his age-32 season and Godwin coming off a gruesome ankle injury, Egbuka has the potential to be a strong fantasy option in the next few years.
Matthew Golden College Production, NFL Fit, Outlook
Golden was an interesting prospect entering the 2025 NFL Draft because he really didn't have much college success. In his first two college seasons at Houston, he only caught a combined 76 passes for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns across 20 games. It was encouraging to see him total 584 yards in his freshman season with the Cougars playing alongside Tank Dell.
After those two years at Houston, Golden transferred to Texas before the 2023 season. There, the speedy wideout had his best college season yet. He caught a career-high 58 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 games. He also returned 14 kickoffs for 285 yards (20.4 yards per return).
It was a solid all-around campaign for Golden in his only season with the Longhorns. He became a go-to target in that offense and was the team's deep threat target for most of the year. His 438 deep yards and 13 deep catches both ranked top-40 in FBS.
That was surely on display in the College Football Playoffs, as the 21-year-old caught seven passes for 149 yards and one touchdown in a win over Arizona State in the quarterfinals.
As a result, Golden's draft stock was rising following a strong showing in the CFP. His draft stock rose even more at the NFL Combine when he ran an impressive 4.29 40-yard dash. That speed, mixed with solid numbers in 2024, pushed the Texas native into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
With the Packers needing some wide receiver help, they decided to take the speedy playmaker with the 23rd overall pick. However, this landing spot should scare dynasty managers just a little bit.
Green Bay Selects Texas WR Matthew Golden 23rd Overall
🧀 23 Receptions of 20+ Yards in 2024 (1st Among WRs) pic.twitter.com/8am2fs9LJF
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 25, 2025
Not only is Golden joining a pass-catching group that involves Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, and Tucker Kraft, but Jordan Love has been known to distribute the ball almost evenly in his offense. Last season, Wicks (76), Reed (75), Doubs (72), and Kraft (70) all saw between 70 and 76 targets.
While that could change with a dynamic playmaker like Golden, the Texas wideout might not see consistent targets in this offense right away. There are a lot of mouths to feed on a Packers offense that threw the ball at the third-lowest clip (49.3%) in 2024. However, he definitely has the potential to emerge as Love's No. 1 target in Green Bay.
So, this landing spot isn't the worst fit for him. Love ranked fifth in both yards per pass attempt and air yards per attempt last year, and that should benefit the young wideout for years to come. With the rookie attached to the Packers quarterback for the foreseeable future, he has the chance to put up solid numbers in his career.
Verdict
There's a chance that both Egbuka and Golden aren't consistent fantasy options in Year 1. Nevertheless, there is a path for both wideouts to be strong dynasty assets for years to come in 2026 and beyond. That makes both wideouts worthy first-round picks in 2025 rookie drafts. If dynasty owners only had to choose one, though, Egbuka feels like the better long-term dynasty asset.
Just going off talent alone, Egbuka is the better playmaker of the two. His college production speaks for itself, and the 22-year-old was the higher draft pick. Those two things definitely matter, considering Golden totaled over 600 yards just once in his college season.
Therefore, dynasty owners should target Egbuka over Golden in the first round. Evans is getting up there in age, and Godwin might never be the same after suffering a season-ending ankle injury last season. That means opportunities will eventually open up for the Ohio State wideout in this Buccaneers offense, and he has a pretty good quarterback in Baker Mayfield throwing passes to him for the next few years.
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