Markus Golden is a career quality starter — a linebacker whose body of work places Golden in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Golden's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.

LBPIT#44ACT

Markus Golden

Top 28% all-time linebackersPer-Snap SpecialistTeam Carrier · #316

Height6'2"

Weight260 lb

BornMar 13, 1991

Age35

CollegeMissouri; Hutchinson CC See College Stats

ConferenceSoutheastern

Rookie yr2015

Draft2015 · Rd 2, Pick 58 · ARI

Archetype Intelligence

Per-Snap SpecialistExplore archetypes →

A linebacker whose excellent per-snap efficiency stands out despite limited volume (top 30% among starters overall). When on the field, they made it count — a specialist's profile.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 42 · #2278 · Above Average

Worth 42 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 50% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 9 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +8.4 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

5 cleared

4 replaced

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+8.4

Avg surplus

peak +14

5 seasons × ~8.4 surplus ≈ VORP 42

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

3 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts						Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2015	—	ARI	14	—	29	19	10	4	12	4.0	20.0	0	0	2	—	0	0	—	0.0%	517	53.5%	145	37.1%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2016	—	ARI	16	—	45	35	10	16	22	12.5	50.5	0	1	4	1	0	0	—	0.0%	761	71.1%	17	6.3%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2017	—	ARI	4	—	11	11	0	1	4	0.0	5.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	230	85.5%	15	11.8%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2018	—	ARI	11	—	27	22	5	5	6	2.5	13.5	0	2	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	393	54.1%	2	3.5%	0	0	—	—	—	13	6	4	3	1	0.0
2019	—	NYG	16	—	68	33	35	13	27	10.0	50.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	—	0.0%	916	82.3%	21	14.4%	2	1	0.5	56.2	0.0	44	16	14	93	6	0.1
2020	—	ARI	16	—	31	15	16	6	20	4.5	30.5	1	3	1	1	0	0	—	0.0%	591	54.8%	13	12.5%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2020	—	2TM	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	8	6	0.8	37.5	-1.5	30	10	15	71	3	0.1
2021	—	ARI	16	—	44	29	15	10	19	11.0	40.0	0	1	4	2	0	0	—	0.0%	682	67.3%	10	10.7%	7	5	0.7	87.2	2.0	35	15	9	41	13	0.2
2022	—	ARI	16	—	45	19	26	7	20	2.5	29.5	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	0.0%	781	70.3%	—	0.0%	8	5	0.6	75.0	-1.6	22	4	15	54	1	0.0
2023	—	PIT	11	—	17	11	6	6	10	4.0	20.0	0	1	0	1	0	0	—	0.0%	230	21.4%	13	6.4%	2	1	0.5	72.9	-3.5	9	0	5	14	0	0.0
Career		—	136	—	317	194	123	68	140	51.0	259.0	1	8	11	6	1	0	—	0.0%	5,101	62.3%	236	12.8%	27	18	—	—	—	153	51	62	276	24	—

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2015	24	ARI	14	8*	29	19	10	4	12	4.0	20.0	0	0	2	—	0	8.1
2016	25	ARI	16	11*	45	35	10	16	22	12.5	50.5	0	1	4	1	0	14.6
2017	26	ARI	4	3*	11	11	0	1	4	0.0	5.0	0	0	0	—	0	1.8
2018	27	ARI	11	6*	27	22	5	5	6	2.5	13.5	0	2	0	—	0	5.8
2019	28	NYG	16	13*	68	33	35	13	27	10.0	50.0	0	0	0	1	1	12.8
2020	29	ARI	16	9*	31	15	16	6	20	4.5	30.5	1	3	1	1	0	11.3
2021	30	ARI	16	11*	44	29	15	10	19	11.0	40.0	0	1	4	2	0	13.1
2022	31	ARI	16	12*	45	19	26	7	20	2.5	29.5	0	0	0	—	0	7.9
2023	32	PIT	11	0*	17	11	6	6	10	4.0	20.0	0	1	0	1	0	5.8
Career			120	73*	317	194	123	68	140	—	—	1	8	11	6	1	81.2

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2015	24	ARI	15	8*	—	0.0%	517	53.5%	145	37.1%
2016	25	ARI	16	11*	—	0.0%	761	71.1%	17	6.3%
2017	26	ARI	4	3*	—	0.0%	230	85.5%	15	11.8%
2018	27	ARI	11	6*	—	0.0%	393	54.1%	2	3.5%
2019	28	NYG	16	13*	—	0.0%	916	82.3%	21	14.4%
2020	29	ARI	16	9*	—	0.0%	591	54.8%	13	12.5%
2021	30	ARI	16	11*	—	0.0%	682	67.3%	10	10.7%
2022	31	ARI	17	12*	—	0.0%	781	70.3%	—	0.0%
2023	32	PIT	16	0*	—	0.0%	230	21.4%	13	6.4%
Career			127	73*	—	—	5,101	—	236	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tgt	Cmp	Cmp%	RateAll	ADOT	Prss	Hrry	QBKD	Bltz	MissTkl	Miss%
2018	27	ARI	11	6*	0	0	—	—	—	13	6	4	3	1	0.0
2019	28	NYG	16	13*	2	1	0.5	56.2	0.0	44	16	14	93	6	0.1
2020	29	2TM	16	9*	8	6	0.8	37.5	-1.5	30	10	15	71	3	0.1
2021	30	ARI	16	11*	7	5	0.7	87.2	2.0	35	15	9	41	13	0.2
2022	31	ARI	17	12*	8	5	0.6	75.0	-1.6	22	4	15	54	1	0.0
2023	32	PIT	16	0*	2	1	0.5	72.9	-3.5	9	0	5	14	0	0.0
Career			92	51*	27	18	—	—	—	153	51	62	276	24	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 54 · Solid

A solid career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 54 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 9 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 53.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 54· confidence 94%

What builds the career mark of 51

On-field 33.5

Availability 17.5

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)

2015bestavg 482023

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #316 of 600 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

1 qualifying season

2019 NYG·4 team wins#16

Sacks · 10 · score 30

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 26% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

26% of the all-time Sacks leader26

1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 93%.

Per-Snap Impact

Linebackers · proprietary · 2012+

Elite

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:5.47See leaderboard →

Disruption/1005.47Snap share62.3%Def snaps5,101ReliableCV 0.37

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within linebackers, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2015

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

LB · 2015 class

4.90s

40-Yard

Low · 5th pct

Pos 5thAll 27thClass Pos 17thClass All 33th

Postseason Career

4 playoff games

Defense

Tkl16Solo8Ast8TFL3QBHits3Sk2.0Dis8.0

College Stats

Missouri; Hutchinson CCCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Missouri; Hutchinson CC), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

2015 Draft Class· this player went #58

#49Mitch MorseC #50Ronald DarbyCB #51Nate OrchardDE #52Jordan PhillipsDT #53Jake FisherOT #54Ameer AbdullahRB #55Maxx WilliamsTE #57Rob HavensteinOT #59Ty SambrailoOT #60Randy GregoryLB #61Ali MarpetG #62Quinten RollinsCB #63Frank ClarkLB #64Jordan RichardsFS #65D'Joun SmithCB #66Jeremiah PoutasiG

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Markus inherited the Arizona Cardinals LB room from Deone Bucannon (2014–2018), and handed it to Haason Reddick (2017–2020).

Jamir Miller 1994–1998Ronald McKinnon 1996–2004Rob Fredrickson 1999–2002Raynoch Thompson 2000–2004James Darling 2003–2006Calvin Pace

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

2023team change
Joined PIT (from ARI)
2023final season
Last recorded season with PIT
2020team change
Joined ARI (from NYG)
2019team change
Joined NYG (from ARI)
2015draft
Drafted by ARI — Round 2, Pick 58

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'2" / 260 lb

Frame

260 lb at 4.90s

Size-speed

Injury History

2 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2018	ARI	1	W1Out· KneeW2Questionable· KneeW3Questionable· KneeW5Questionable· KneeW6Questionable· KneeW16Questionable· AnkleW17Questionable· Ankle
2016	ARI	0	W14Questionable· Hamstring
2015	ARI	1	W11Questionable· AnkleW17Out· Knee

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 9-season peers. See all →

peak 57

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C2015

C+2016

F2017

C2018

B2019

C+2020

C+2021

C+2022

C2023

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

86%

Era Translator

Tackles translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual Tackles	Tackles/G	→ 2025 Tackles	→ 2025 /G
2015	29	2.1	15-14	0.9
2016	45	2.8	34-11	2
2017	11	2.8	34+23	2
2018	27	2.5	32+5	1.9
2019	68	4.3	65-3	3.8
2020	31	1.9	30-1	1.8
2021	44	2.8	44	2.6
2022	45	2.8	46+1	2.7
2023	17	1.5	26+9	1.6

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

42 career value over replacement — #2278 all-time of 4,642. 4.7/season above a replacement-level LB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #58 (Rd 2) · ARI · 2015 · +7.1 vs expected KV-H

54actual

46.9 expected · Δ+7.1

Fan Rating

Rate Markus Golden — All-Time

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Compare Markus Golden vs Player Report data error

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Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

Advanced Defense & Coverage (2018+)

KV-H Anatomy

Team Carrier Evidence

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2015

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2015 Draft Class· this player went #58

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography