For the Cardinals, the Second Round is Golden

For day two of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals traded down three spots from 55 to 58 with the Baltimore Ravens and added a second fifth round pick. When Adrian Wilson came to the podium to announce the Cardinals selection, it was linebacker out of Missouri, Markus Golden.

“I expected myself to go in the first three rounds,” said Golden after being selected. “I am just happy that they gave me a chance on me. It’s just a blessing, the biggest day of my life and I am just so excited. I’ve been working my whole life for this.”

The 6-2, 260 pound outside backer specializes in pass rushing which was an area of definite need for the Cardinals in this draft. In 2014, he was named Second-team All-SEC and started 13 games taking over for Michael Sam who he backed up in 2013.

“I’m just relentless,” how Golden described his mentality when rushing the quarterback. “Whatever I’ve got to do to get to that quarterback, I’m going to do. And I’m going to get after him and I know by the end of a game, I’m going to get a few shots on him.”

Golden in his last two seasons with the Tigers had a combined 133 total tackles, 33 of which were for loss, 16.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.

According to NFL.com, Golden was projected to be a fourth or fifth round pick and also from NFL.com, an AFC National scout had this to say of Golden: “He plays hard and he’s very tough, but where is the productivity? Usually with big effort guys we have to sift through big production numbers and figure out how much of it is translatable. With Golden, there just isn’t as much production as you expect. I had a higher grade on him last year.”

Golden played on the defensive line for Missouri last season but is drafted to play outside linebacker for the Cardinals. Linebacker is a position that Golden says he’s played his whole life and is excited to got back to what he calls, his “natural position.”

“Of course there are still things to learn and I want to keep getting better, but at the same time, I played linebacker my whole life,” Golden explained. “I get to go back to my natural position and go back to linebacker instead of having to be in a three-point stance.”