In the first true showing of the rebuilt outside linebacker room for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the perceived four that will make the 53-man roster in T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Markus Golden and rookie Nick Herbig all looked strong in Saturday’s 27-15 win over the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium.
Highsmith had some pressures, Watt looked like, well, T.J. Watt with the amount of offensive attention he drew in a few snaps from the Bills’ starters, and Herbig continues to wreck the NFL in the preseason. The guy that flew under the radar with a rather strong performance Saturday night – which is something he’s done his entire career to this point — was Golden.
Playing 15 snaps in the win over the Bills, Golden showed why the Steelers were so keen on adding him as depth to the outside linebacker room. Bringing that toughness, high football IQ and great power to the room, Golden stood out in his limited snaps against Buffalo, showing Pittsburgh again that its depth at the most important position on the 3-4 defense is superb.
Throughout his career, Golden’s motor has been outstanding. It’s what former teammate J.J. Watt credited him for after the veteran signed with the Steelers following the 2023 NFL Draft.
It was on display right away against the Bills Saturday night.
Quick tunnel screen here from the Bills to wide receiver Deonte Harty. Golden is lined up over right tackle Spencer Brown at right outside linebacker. Sound, quick change of direction from Golden to read the play and chase down Harty for the tackle in space.
He was excited about it, too. He should be. That’s great effort in a preseason game, and that rubs off on teammates.
The highlight of Golden’s day came a few snaps later while rushing the passer.
Again lined up over Buffalo’s Spencer Brown, Golden learned quickly he could get underneath him and put him on skates.
Golden, aligned wide, does a good job of getting upfield quickly, forcing Brown to get out to him. As Brown arrives, he’s bit of a mess and off balance without his base underneath him. Golden recognizes it and explodes upward into Brown’s chest with powerful hands, lifting Brown off his feet and pushing him into quarterback Josh Allen’s lap, drawing a holding call on the play.
That helped shut down Buffalo’s promising second drive of the game, and showed how powerful Golden still is at this point in his career.
Same drive, Golden helps blow up a Buffalo run play with safety Minkah Fitpatrick.
It’s not a smart idea — at all — to try and block Golden with a wide receiver, but that’s the look the Bills give on the play.
Golden takes advantage, squeezing down on the play to help blow it up. Fitzpatrick draws a lot of attention here for the ride he takes Buffalo rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid on, but Golden does a really good job of staying square to the line of scrimmage, cutting off any cutback lane and squeezing down to help make a play.
That power from Golden isn’t just from a pass rush perspective, either. He has it as a run defender, too.
On one of his final snaps of the game, Golden welcomed Kincaid to the NFL with an explosive, powerful two-hand punch to the chest against the run, shocking the rookie tight end backwards. This allows Golden a lane to sneak through inside and get in on the run stop.
Just 15 snaps is usually a hard sample size to really feel one way or another with a player, but the limited time Golden played on Saturday night was what was expected. He looked like the Golden everyone in the NFL knows, and that’s a great thing for the Steelers.
The outside linebacker room looks strong behind Watt and Highsmith, and it helps having a junkyard dawg as depth.
