The Pittsburgh Steelers in recent years have seemed to take a more active approach in making sure that they have at least three pass rushers they feel strongly about in a rotation. In 2020, they signed Melvin Ingram. Last year, they brought in Malik Reed via trade just before the start of the season.
Neither of those scenarios panned out exactly as planned, granted, but that doesn’t mean the third time can’t be the charm. This go around brings us Markus Golden, an eighth-year veteran who has spent most of his career with the Arizona Cardinals. The former second-round pick brings 47 sacks and 130 quarterback hits to the table along with seven forced fumbles across 68 starts in 111 games played.
And he just wants to step in and contribute. Speaking to reporters during the second week of OTAs, he communicated that he wanted to come to Pittsburgh because he’s watched the Steelers play for years and he believes it fits his personality—especially the guys in the outside linebacker room in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
“Those guys, man. You get to watch guys playing in the NFL, we play the same teams, so I watch those guys a lot”, he said of the aforementioned pass-rush duo. “They’re some dogs and I fit right in with that. I fit right into the d-line room, and I’m gonna be ready to get out there and hunt with them”.
Most who are reading this should need no introduction to the men in question, but Watt is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game today. He won the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year Award after tying the NFL record in single-season sacks with 22.5. His subsequent season last year was marred by injury, but he is back to full capacity and ready to resume his reign of terror.
Highsmith, in just his second season as a full-time starter in 2022, really stepped up, posting 14.5 sacks. That is more than anybody not named Watt has put up since James Harrison put up 16 in 2008. Not even LaMarr Woodley managed that many in any one year.
Golden does have a few double-digit-sack seasons under his belt, most recently in 2021. His sack numbers were down last year, but not so his performance and level of play generally. Sacks can be a fluky statistic, the judgement of which is suspect without an accompanying view of the tape.
Now 32 years old, however, Golden is obviously in the latter stages of his career, so it’s fair to question how much he has left in the tank. The Steelers’ concern is only for the 2023 season and what he can deliver for them between September and February, at least for now, but he certainly believes he can fit right in and keep the chase alive when the other dogs are at rest.
