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Should you start Matthew Golden, Luther Burden III, or Jayden Higgins in Week 1? Dan Fornek explores the outlooks for three rookie receivers in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
Fantasy season is finally here. It is time to shift gears from hitting on your draft picks to making the right lineup decisions to win your week.
Putting rookies into your lineup in the first week of their professional career is a boom-or-bust maneuver that can make or break fantasy weeks. Thankfully, there are plenty of rookies who can give you that upside in the 2025 NFL Draft class.
Should fantasy managers start Matthew Golden, Luther Burden III, or Jayden Higgins? Read below to find out.
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Matthew Golden Fantasy Football Outlook
There is no question that Matthew Golden will be on the field in two-receiver sets for the Green Bay Packers to start the 2025 season. The rookie impressed the coaching staff with his speed, route running, and sure-handed play throughout training camp.
Matthew Golden seems to have it all
Speed ✔️
Late Hands ✔️
Footwork ✔️
Smooth Transitioning ✔️
Body Control ✔️He just never seems to panic https://t.co/KpfgUQ8jX9 pic.twitter.com/OIo37uRcXV
— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) August 24, 2025
Golden’s first matchup against the Lions is far from easy, but there is no question that he is a starter. More importantly, the Packers have several other receivers who are coming into the season dinged up already.
Jayden Reed is hoping to play through a Jones fracture in his foot. Dontayvion Wicks has struggled with a calf injury throughout training camp. Christian Watson is still recovering from a torn ACL in the final game of the 2024 regular season. Reed and Wicks will both play in this matchup, but time will tell how much they can be trusted on the field.
The Packers have a solid offensive line and believe that Jordan Love can be a difference-maker as a passer. Golden will likely lead the team in targets in his first career game and could see a significant workload in a game against the Lions that could produce shootout conditions.
Luther Burden III Fantasy Football Outlook
Luther Burden III came into training camp working his way through a hamstring injury that was suffered during OTAs. It didn’t take Burden long to get back up to speed, but he did miss valuable reps to begin camp.
When healthy, Burden did show that he could have an impact during his rookie season in Ben Johnson’s offense. Burden caught five of six targets for 78 yards while averaging 15.6 yards per reception. More importantly, Burden showed a willingness to block and earn his opportunities on the field.
Bears rookie WR Luther Burden III getting his number called a good amount tonight 👏 pic.twitter.com/jYV73ptwHo
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) August 18, 2025
That said, opportunities will be hard to come by for the rookie to start the season. Chicago returns D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift, and Cole Kmet in the passing attack. They also added Colston Loveland in the NFL Draft and Olamide Zaccheaus in free agency.
Based on the preseason, it appears that Burden is behind Zaccheaus for slot snaps to begin the season. That doesn’t mean that Burden won’t be on the field at all in Week 1, but it does make projecting his workload a bit more volatile.
Burden should absolutely be on fantasy benches given his potential, but he shouldn’t be trusted in starting lineups until we know he has a higher weekly floor.
Jayden Higgins Fantasy Football Outlook
With the 34th pick in the 2025 @NFL Draft, the @HoustonTexans select Jayden Higgins from @CycloneFB pic.twitter.com/SMDYGrg9MN
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) April 25, 2025
Jayden Higgins didn’t have the most explosive preseason (five targets, three receptions, and 22 yards), but he was able to be productive in a limited workload. More importantly, Higgins was moved across the formation, giving him more versatility than many initially expected.
Higgins was expected to be the third option in the passing attack behind Nico Collins and Christian Kirk, but saw his fantasy outlook improve thanks to a hamstring injury that has kept Kirk out of practice going into Week 1.
If Kirk is unable to go, Higgins gains interesting upside as a WR3/FLEX play in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Texans' offense could struggle as they break in a new offensive line, but Higgins will have an opportunity to put up points if Stroud can get the ball off.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 1 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan, Emeka Egbuka. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 1. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 1 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan, Emeka Egbuka. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 1.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 1 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 1 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 1 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 1 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Matthew Golden, Luther Burden III, Jayden Higgins compared to others:
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