Arizona Cardinals take outside linebaker Markus Golden in second round of NFL Draft
May 2, 2015, 1:16 AM | Updated: 2:09 am
The Arizona Cardinals selected pass rusher Markus Golden in the second round — 58th overall — of the 2015 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-2, 260-pound outside linebacker out of Missouri was named to the second-team All-SEC in 2014, when he started all 13 games, tallying 78 tackles, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles and two passes defensed. He also returned one fumble for a touchdown.
Twenty of Golden’s tackles last season were for a loss, good for third-most in the SEC.
The St. Louis native has been clocked as fast as 4.74 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and he has a vertical jump of 28.5 inches.
Golden was once a backup to 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam and he played alongside eventual first-round pick Shane Ray, now of the Denver Broncos.
The Cardinals originally had the 55th overall pick, which they shipped to Baltimore for the 58th and 158th spots in the draft.
Arizona arguably reached for the former Tiger, as NFL.com projected him to go in the fourth or fifth round of the draft.
After getting picked, Golden told reporters he expected to go in the first three rounds.
“I’m just happy that … they just took a chance on me,” he said. “It’s a blessing. It’s just the biggest day of my life, and I’m just so excited. I’ve been working my whole life for this. So I don’t really care about where I went; I’m just happy I’m with the Arizona Cardinals. I’m honored to be a part of the their team.”
Golden added he knew the Cardinals were interested in him and liked the way he rushes the passer.
As far as his pass-rushing style, he said he’s “relentless, relentless.”
“Whatever I’ve got to do to get to their quarterback, I’m gonna do,” the linebacker said. “And I know eventually, by the end of the game, I’m going to make sure I’m going to get a few shots on (the quarterback), and eventually I’m going to bring him down for a sack.”
