Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: OLB Markus Golden
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: With T.J. Watt ruled out for Sunday’s playoff opener, the veteran pass rusher has a golden—forgive me—opportunity to step up and prove his worth. Signed after the draft to bolster the depth at outside linebacker, Golden has been an effective rotational defender and has stepped in well when injuries presented themselves.
Markus Golden has played just 230 defensive snaps this season, but has turned that into four sacks. He also finished the season with 20 tackles, six tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, a fumble recovery, and a pass defensed. The only thing he didn’t do was cause a turnover.
He’ll have a chance to add that to his resume on Sunday when he starts across from Spencer Brown, the third-year starter. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown has been charged with allowing five sacks this season and 40 pressures overall across nearly 700 pass-blocking snaps with a 65.0 pass-blocking grade. He has been penalized nine times.
And Golden has pretty much always been effective when he’s had an opportunity to play this year, getting after the quarterback particularly well over the past couple of weeks. He helped clinch a win in the finale with a sack at the end of the game.
Much more will be on his shoulders this week than at any other point as a member of the Steelers, however, as they will be without T.J. Watt, the potential Defensive Player of the Year. Watt managed 19 sacks in his 17 starts and is widely recognized as one of the best in the game.
You’re not going to just replace that, but the Steelers have better depth behind their starters than they’ve had in a while. It’s not just Golden, but also rookie Nick Herbig, who has managed three sacks and two forced fumbles on even fewer snaps.
The two of them will be tasked with holding down the left side of the defense. To their credit, both of them, are players with a complete skill set, not just one-dimensional pass-rushers. They can both hold down the edge, but Golden is the far more experienced player.
The majority of the burden will fall on his shoulders, though they may ride the hot hand here and there. And there will need to be opportunities for Alex Highsmith to get some rest on the other side as well. We could see David Perales called up from the practice squad just to have another body on the edge.
