The Pittsburgh Steelers made a splash move in free agency with the addition of LB Patrick Queen, the former Baltimore Raven. So, I wanted to look at and provide data of his 2023 season, starting with coverage and including Pittsburgh linebackers for comparative context using data from Sports Info Solutions (SIS).
Let’s get right to it, starting with 2023 coverage snaps and targets to get a gauge of the quantity of plays comparatively:
Right away we see a substantial difference in 2023 for Queen, who played the most coverage snaps at the position last season (627). That is, of course, a welcomed part of his addition, considering the carousel at LB for the Steelers last year due to injury. The visual highlights this well, with all Steelers on the bottom left in opportunity.
Queen was targeted 35 times, tied for 11th most out of the 75 qualifying linebackers. The trendline (diagonal line) emphasizes that he was targeted at a below-average rate compared to his snap count, compared to Pittsburgh’s Elandon Roberts and Mykal Walker, for example. Encouraging information so far.
Now let’s begin to examine the quality of play with completion percentage and deserved catch percentage, which is the number of completions and drops divided by the number of catchable targets and passes defensed:
Jumping out positively is Queen’s 78.1 deserved catch percentage, which ranked ninth-best. This is a very strong number compared to his below-average 71.4 completion rate (T-45th), meaning opposing receivers came away with receptions at a high rate despite a nice comparative impact in coverage. 32 of his targets were catchable, allowing 25 completions. Queen had seven passes defensed, which tied for the most among linebackers, along with an interception.
In comparison, the group of four Steelers linebackers had seven passes defensed and two interceptions combined, emphasizing a needed coverage presence that Queen can hopefully continue in 2024 with the black and gold. Pittsburgh linebackers were all below average in deserved catch rates as well, with Roberts landing near the bottom of the league at 95.5 percent (ninth-worst).
We also see Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb as the above-average players in our sights in terms of completion rates allowed. Alexander’s 46.2 percent ranked third league-wide, while Holcomb came in at 15th (58.3). Recalling Queen’s 71.4 number emphasizes a hope that he will improve in 2024, with his deserved catch rate providing optimism toward that goal.
Next, let’s look at the yardage of the targets with yards per attempt and yards per game:
Patrick Queen had an above-average 5.8 yards per attempt last year, tying for 22nd. His 12.0 yards per game landed near the mean at 40th, similar to Roberts and Holcomb, who had worse yards per attempt. This is encouraging for Queen, considering his volume.
Alexander (who is currently unsigned) fared best in both data points, with 4.8 yards per attempt (12th) and 7.0 per game (T-16th). Impressive, but this came on just 13 targets compared to Queen’s 35. Painful memories with Walker, who had a league-worst 23.5 yards per game and fourth-worst 10.4 per game. Knock on wood, a healthy room in 2024, first and foremost.
Another stat that is used often to evaluate defenders in coverage is QBR Against (factors in completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions), so let’s see how they fare along with Wins Above Replacement (WAR) which is a points-above-replacement scale conversion that is based on the scoring environment:
Similar to the earlier completion rates, we see Holcomb and Alexander with healthy QBR Against numbers. The former was the fourth-ranked linebacker (49.3), and the latter 14th (60.7). The unknown is obviously what their numbers would have been sans injuries, likely being closer to the mean if opportunities arose. Roberts was just above the mean with an 81.1 QBR against (31st), but the lowest WAR of linebackers in our sights.
This was Patrick Queen’s stronger mark, compared to a 102.6 rating against that ranked a lowly 58th. This was largely due to an unfortunate three touchdowns allowed, tying for second-most at the position. Obviously, it’s not ideal, and it’s one of the biggest areas to hopefully improve upon in 2024.
To close, let’s look at SIS’s Boom and Bust percentages to see the rates of big plays allowed or made in coverage.
- Boom % = The percentage of dropbacks that resulted in an EPA of 1 or more (a very successful play for the offense)
- Bust % = The percentage of dropbacks that resulted in an EPA of -1 or less (a very unsuccessful play for the offense)
Here, we see an overall lack of impact from the highlighted players in 2023, especially all five linebackers below the mean in bust rate. Queen did have the best 11.4 number but ranked 40th among his peers.
This emphasizes an issue for him and the Steelers’ position room in ball production that can hopefully trend in the right direction this season. Queen’s 25.7 boom percentage is also less than ideal, tied for 51st (fourth-worst focused player), which again is largely impacted by his high TD rate allowed in 2023.
So, here is a wrap-up table of the data and conclusion:
While this view is not all sunshine and rainbows for Patrick Queen, we see he had some impressive marks compared to Pittsburgh’s room in 2023. In particular, the most coverage snaps of any linebacker last year, along with a top ten rank in deserved catch rate, where all of Pittsburgh’s linebackers were ranked 44th or worse. On that high number of targets, he provided a top 20 WAR rank (T-19th), more impressive than Steelers players considering the volume.
Now for Queen’s hopeful improvement areas in the data for 2024: ball production (40th in bust rate), completion rate allowed (45th), and limiting the opposition on the scoreboard (51st in boom percentage). Each negatively affected his QBR against, his lowest 58th rank in 2023. Some encouraging ability was also highlighted well in our Josh Carney’s film room of Queen. Expect improvement, but reasonable expectations would be wise considering today’s data.
It’s also great to see Roberts and Holcomb’s 2023 offerings in comparison and how that might pan out for them in the black and gold for 2024. Alexander and Walker are no longer with the team (currently), with the former showing good things in a limited sample size, and will be interesting to see what his future holds.
Seeing the dark red ranks among 2023 Steelers linebackers, the aforementioned strengths, and hopeful improvements for Patrick Queen, I can’t wait to see how it pans out. Stay tuned for a run defense study on him soon.
Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
