Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals' plan B draft pick thriving

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Arizona Cardinals 2015 second-round draft pick wasn’t their first choice but Markus Golden has proven to be quite a find

The second round of the 2015 NFL Draft came rolling around, and the Arizona Cardinals needed a running back. While speaking to the back they were ready to select with the 58th overall pick, their conversation got interrupted.

They had Ameer Abdullah on the phone, and it was the Detroit Lions who had interrupted the call. The Lions were calling Abdullah to let him know that it was they who would be drafting him. They had thwarted the Cards’ plans, forcing Steve Keim and company to switch gears on the fly.

Outside linebacker Markus Golden turned out to be the Cardinals’ fall-back plan. As it turned out, Detroit may have ended up doing Arizona a big favor.

The now second-year pro is having a very fine season. His seven sacks rank second only to Chandler Jones eight on the team. He has also forced two fumbles and recovered one, and has registered 37 tackles in 12 games.

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Golden is consistently causing havoc in the backfields of opposing teams. Last Sunday, he returned Kirk Cousins fumble to the Washington Redskins’ 10-yard line, setting up a crucial Cardinals’ touchdown. It’s the kind of play the coaching staff has come to expect from the rising star.

The acquisition of fellow outside linebacker Jones has certainly been a help. The attention the pass-rushing stud garners has freed up Golden to make more plays. Golden is one of many who are hoping the front office re-signs Jones, who’s an unrestricted free agent in 2017.

Looking back to that 2015 draft, the Cards probably thought they got bamboozled by Detroit. But things have a strange way of working out sometimes. Not only did the club land Golden, they then landed their stud running back in the third round, David Johnson.

The moral of the story is that what appears to be a negative at first, can turn out to be a major positive. And Golden has been that positive. Not bad for a “plan B”.

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