History of Green Bay Packers firstround wide receivers drafted Jack McKessy, USA TODAYSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:31 AM 0 If there's one thing the Green Bay Packers have become known for when it comes to the NFL draft, it is their propensity not to draft wide receivers in the first round.
- - History of Green Bay Packers first-round wide receivers drafted
Jack McKessy, USA TODAYSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:31 AM
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If there's one thing the Green Bay Packers have become known for when it comes to the NFL draft, it is their propensity not to draft wide receivers in the first round.
The entire draft history of the Packers dates back to the very first NFL draft in 1936. In that time – through 90 total drafts – Green Bay has only ever selected a wide receiver in the first round six times.
So when the Packers took Matthew Golden with the 23rd overall pick earlier this year, it was something of a stunning move.
Golden wasn't only the first, first-round wide receiver the Packers drafted this decade, he was the first in the last two decades and just the second since the turn of the century.
Golden became the first wide receiver Green Bay drafted in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002. Walker, himself, was the first Packers wideout drafted that early in nearly two decades.
Which means quarterback Brett Favre, a Packers icon and Hall of Fame quarterback, only saw his team draft one first-round wide receiver in his 16 years in Green Bay. And Aaron Rodgers, also a Packers icon and future Hall of Famer, never threw a pass to a wide receiver the Packers drafted in the first round in his 18 years there.
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Packers first-round wide receiver historyLarry Elkins: No. 10 overall, 1965 NFL Draft
The very first wide receiver that the Packers ever deigned to take with their first-round pick, and... he never played a single snap for Green Bay. Elkins was also the No. 2 pick of that year's AFL draft – right behind Jets quarterback Joe Namath – and decided to play for the Houston Oilers instead of the Packers.
Elkins missed all of his rookie year with a knee injury and played only two seasons after that before a broken collarbone in a 1969 preseason game ended his pro football career.
Barry Smith: No. 21 overall, 1973 NFL Draft
Thanks to Elkins' decision to play in the AFL, Smith became the first, first-round wide receiver in Packers history to actually play for the team. His legacy? Three unimpressive seasons in which he never tallied more than 20 catches, 300 yards or two touchdowns in a single season.
After three years in Green Bay, Smith became a member of the first-ever Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in 1976 when the fledgling team selected him in the 1976 expansion draft. He caught four passes for 88 yards and zero touchdowns in his one season with Tampa Bay.
James Lofton: No. 6 overall, 1978 NFL Draft
Lofton was the Packers' first real "hit" on a first-round receiver.
The Hall of Fame wide receiver played nine years in Green Bay and established himself as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time over his 16-year career. Lofton is still the all-time career leader in yards per touch – an astounding 17.9, which is 1.3 yards ahead of the No. 2 spot on the list – and finished his career with 764 catches for 14,004 yards and 75 touchdowns.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and was one of CBS's NFL analysts from 2017 until last year.
Sterling Sharpe: No. 7 overall, 1988 NFL Draft
Likely thanks to the success of Lofton in Green Bay, the Packers did not draft another receiver in the first round for another decade. When they used the seventh overall pick on Sharpe, it was a second straight "hit."
By the second year of Sharpe's career, he was leading the NFL in receptions. He put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 1989 and 1990 to earn his first two career Pro Bowl nods. In 1992, Favre joined the team and Sharpe won the receiving triple crown with 108 catches, 1,461 yards and 13 touchdowns.
In 1995, the final year in a career cut short by a neck injury, Sharpe led the league with a career-high 18 touchdowns. Sharpe finished his career having made five Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Javon Walker: No. 20 overall, 2002 NFL Draft
All streaks end eventually. For the Packers, their run of Hall of Fame first-round wide receiver picks ended at two players, though Walker had a solid three years in Green Bay.
The Florida State product had 64 catches for 1,035 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns across his first two seasons in the pros before experiencing an excellent breakout season in 2004. His 89 catches for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns that year alone surpassed his career totals before the season began, and he made his Pro Bowl for his efforts.
It was also Walker's last Pro Bowl. After trying unsuccessfully to hold out for a contract extension before the 2005 season, Walker injured his ACL in Week 1 and sat out the remainder of the season. The Packers traded him to the Falcons the following offseason, and he never returned to the heights of his 2004 production output.
Matthew Golden: No. 23 overall, 2025 NFL Draft
Earlier this year, Golden became the first wide receiver the Packers selected in the first round in more than two decades.
After one career game, it's too early to declare whether Golden will join Lofton and Sharpe – and, to a certain extent, Walker – as a hit or Elkins and Smith as a miss.
Through one game, Golden has two catches for 16 yards and is still waiting for his first career touchdown reception.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Packers first-round wide receiver history includes just 6 names
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