Missouri Tigers’ Markus Golden Impressing at Senior Bowl Practices
The practice week for the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which is often referred to as a “week-long job interview”, is trudging on, and some players are beginning to really stand out and impress NFL talent evaluators. One of those players is defensive end Markus Golden, a recent graduate of the University of Missouri who racked up 16.5 sacks during the past two seasons.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Rams beat writer Jim Thomas and Optimum Scouting’s Eric Galko both came away impressed by Golden at Wednesday’s practice:
Mizzou & Affton HS DE Markus Golden is "flashing" as they say at Senior Bowl. Had a couple of "sacks", forced fumble in practice Weds.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) January 21, 2015
Winners from day two South #SeniorBowl practices: Philip Dorsett, Sammie Coates, Clive Walford, Shaq Mason, Trey Flowers and Markus Golden
— Eric Galko (@EricGalko) January 21, 2015
Golden has been projected in most mock drafts thus far as a late first-rounder or early second-rounder. He’s frequently been mocked behind his fellow Tiger defensive end Shane Ray, who many draftniks regard as a Top 15 prospect.
More from Missouri Tigers
- Missouri Tigers’ Damarea Crockett named to Maxwell Award watch list
- Missouri Tigers’ Marcell Frazier named to Bednarik Award watch list
- Key takeaways from Missouri Tigers’ first preseason depth chart
- Missouri Tigers’ Tanner Houck selected in first round of 2017 MLB Draft
- Texas transfer Jordan Elliott reportedly commits to Missouri Tigers
With all due respect to Ray, it’s highly possible that Golden has the better skill set, and he may have been Mizzou’s most productive pass rusher in 2014 if he had been healthy. Unfortunately, he suffered a hamstring injury in September which ended up limiting him for much of the season. After sustaining the injury and missing the Tigers’ September 20 loss to Indiana, Golden went on to go sackless in his next four games. However, he ended the season strong, picking up six sacks in his last six games.
The one thing that will be a concern for Golden going forward is his size, which likely will limit him to a 3-4 outside linebacker position going forward. Golden, who was listed by Mizzou at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, ended up coming in smaller than expected at the Senior Bowl, measuring in at 6-foot-2 and 2/10ths of an inch and 255 pounds.
While that difference may not seem significant, 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds are often considered the bare minimum measurements for a player to fit as a 4-3 defensive end. Luckily for Golden, he has extensive experience playing a traditional linebacker position, working as a linebacker as recently as the 2012 season at Mizzou. He’s a solid run defender and is athletic enough to drop back in coverage without issues, so he should make a fine transition to outside linebacker. In fact, he will have a more easily projectable conversion than Ray, who is also almost sure to convert to 3-4 OLB at the next level, as Ray is a much more passive run defender.
Next: What Should the Rams be Watching Out for at the Senior Bowl?