Arizona Cardinals From A To Z: Markus Golden

Player profile of OLB Markus Golden as Arizona Cardinals training camp starts July 31st

As we prepare for Arizona Cardinals training camp reporting date of July 31st, it is time for our annual look at the roster player by player.  I look at what they’ve done, where they are now and how I project each player’s status at the end of camp.

We go from A to Z and continue with OLB Markus Golden.  He was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of the University of Missouri.

2014 season: As a linebacker, Golden played golden last season.  In 2014 he had 78 tackles, 20 of which were for a loss.  Of those 20, 10 of them were quarterback sacks.  He made a huge jump from his 2013 stats because he served mainly as a backup to Michael Sam in 2013.  He still managed 6.5 sacks that year and one interception which was returned 70 yards for a touchdown.

2015 season projection: Many scouts had Golden pegged as a fourth or fifth-round pick in this year’s draft.  The Cardinals ranked him higher and took him in the second round, 58th overall.  That’s not a pick that will see a lot of time on the sidelines, at least it shouldn’t be at that position.  Golden has good awareness and effort.  Amazingly one of his weaknesses was said to be a lack of closing burst on pass rushes.  Well if that’s what gets you 10 sacks, I’ll take it everyday.  Golden could end up being a backup but he’ll see the field a lot.

Golden is right, stats should speak for themselves.  That’s why I was surprised to see his draft projections so low.  The Cardinals saw through that.  Video and stats don’t lie.  Golden can and will fight for a starting spot.  As I say at least a few times a week, the job won’t be handed to him but starter or not I think we will hear Golden’s name called quite a bit this season.