NFL Draft: Cardinals Select Markus Golden In Second Round
On the second day of the NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals addressed their need for a pass rusher by selecting Markus Golden out of Missouri with the 58th overall pick.
Before the day started, the Red Birds were slated to have the 55th pick of the second round, but Arizona traded down a few spots and picked up another fifth round pick from the Baltimore Ravens in the process.
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Golden’s teammate Shane Ray got all all the big publicity at Missouri and heading into the draft, but Golden had a pretty productive collegiate career himself.
Having played mostly special teams in his first season with the Tigers, Golden had two very good campaigns during his junior and senior seasons. Over 27 games, the 6-foot-2, 260-pounder had 33 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks.
Following his senior season, Golden was named second-team All-SEC and was awarded the Citrus Bowl MVP in Missouri’s 33-17 victory over the Minnesota Gophers.
Following the Cardinals selection of Golden, this is what NFL Network’s Mike Mayock had to say on the newest Cardinal.
"This is one of the hardest-working men in college football. He doesn’t get as much pub as his teammate Shane Ray, but when you put the tape in he sticks out. Every time he’s on the football field, it’s 100 percent."
The Cardinals have all sorts of question marks at linebacker at the moment. Sam Acho is gone, Daryl Washingtion faces another suspension, Larry Foote is 50/50 on retirement and who knows what is going to happen with John Abraham.
Alex Okafor was a pleasant surprise in only his second season in the league, but Arizona has very few options after him in guys who can get to the quarterback on a consistent basis. There’s certainly room for Golden to come in and immediately earn a lot of playing time.
Stay with HeatWaved as we continue to have up to minute coverage on the Cardinals draft.