This decision follows a single season at Texas, during which he led the Longhorns in receiving yards (987) and receiving touchdowns (9). He caught 54 receptions for an average of 17 yards per reception and dramatically improved his draft stock with a strong finish in the final month.
The 6-foot, 195-pound Golden is projected to be a top-50 choice in the draft, with ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranking him No. 8 at receiver. Golden, who boasts elite speed and sure hands, was Texas’ most dependable wide receiver in 2024. He spent his first two seasons at Houston, where he started 17 of 20 games and totaled 76 receptions for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Finished his college career with 722 return yards and two kick return touchdowns. His NFL value has increased dramatically in the last month after he had 162 receiving yards against Georgia in the SEC title game and 149 receiving yards and a touchdown against Arizona State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Golden recorded two catches for 51 yards in the CFP semifinal defeat to Ohio State, although he missed a significant portion of the game due to an apparent lower leg injury. He was brought to the injury tent and locker room during the first half before returning to the game in the second.
Kyren Lacy, a former LSU wide receiver suspected of causing a wreck that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without administering aid or alerting authorities, surrendered to authorities Sunday night, was arrested, and then released on $151,000 bail, according to police records. According to records from the Lafourche (Louisiana) Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lacy was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death, and reckless vehicle operation.
A warrant for Lacy’s arrest had been issued, and police said on Friday that they had been in contact with him and his attorney, encouraging him to turn himself in. According to a news release issued by Louisiana State Police on Friday, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”
“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release stated. “Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza, whose driver veered left to escape an approaching Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza swerved to escape the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and crashed with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.
According to police, Lacy, 24, drove around the crash area and departed “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.” According to state police, Herman Hall of Thibodaux, Louisiana, was a passenger in the Kia Sorento and died as a result of his injuries in the incident. Hall was 78.
According to authorities, the drivers of the Cadenza and Sorento experienced moderate injuries. Lacy’s representative, Rocky Arceneaux, stated that his client is “fully cooperating with the authorities.” Lacy spent two seasons at Louisiana before moving to LSU in 2022. He caught 58 passes for 866 yards and nine touchdowns this season and declared for the NFL draft on December 19, two days after the incident.