Pittsburgh Steelers rookie and second round pick Senquez Golson had surgery on his left shoulder today, jeopardizing his rookie season before it ever begins. The Steelers have confirmed the surgery, but have not many any roster move. Two weeks ago news broke that Golson, who injured his shoulder in OTA’s, might need surgery and today’s events confirm that.
- Because Senquez Golson began training camp on the Steelers PUP list he could potentially return to play in 2015, although he would need to miss the next six weeks.
After that the Steelers would have 5 weeks to either allow Golson to begin practicing or place him on injured reserve. However, while information on the exact procedure is unavailable, it is generally assumed that the Senquez Golson shoulder surgery will likely end his rookie season.
Prior to the 2015 NFL Draft Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert talked a good game about “Taking the best player available” or some functional equivalent to such a strategy. He even appeared to follow it when Bud Dupree fell and the Steelers drafted him in the 1st round.
- But in the second round, the Steelers kept to the script by taking Senquez Golson.
As Colbert admitted after the draft, “There was no way we were coming out of the second round without a corner.” That might have been logical fans, but it was an unusual bit of frankness from the normally tight lipped Colbert.
Senquez Golson played his college ball at Ole Miss, where he had over 10 interceptions. Golson however is short, only standing at 5’9” which is very short for an NFL cornerback. But what Golson lacked in height he made up for in ball honed from his days as an outfielder in baseball:
The ball tracking, coordination, and timing Golson displayed in intercepting that ball away from the 6’6” O.J. Howard, make it easy to see why Mike Tomlin, Keith Butler, and Carnell Lake were anxious to add Golson to a turnover starved secondary.
It appears that the Steelers will need to wait before seeing whether Golson can help quench the Steelers thirst for turnovers.
