With news of the Pittsburgh Steelers landing Patrick Queen in free agency causing a bit of a frenzy in the city of Pittsburgh Tuesday and into Wednesday, some from the Baltimore area who have covered Queen the last four years are attempting to throw some cold water on the Steelers’ big-ticket signing.
That includes Baltimore radio host Rob Long.
During an appearance Wednesday afternoon on the 93.7 The Fan Joe Show with host Joe Starkey and co-host Donny Chedrick, Long questioned if Queen can truly be the guy in Pittsburgh at the linebacker position and believes that Steeler Nation will be a bit disappointed in Queen’s play relative to expectations.
“It is funny you call me because I’ve never been a Patrick Queen fan. Never. And I’m not saying that because he went to the Steelers and the sour grapes. I even brought this conversation up last week on our show because I read somewhere where Patrick Queen would be the ultimate luxury for the Steelers and asking Raven fans how they would feel about that,” Long said, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “…When Roquan [Smith] came, he became a different player. Does that make him a bad guy? No.
“No, no, it doesn’t. But it just means that I don’t think you can rely on him to be the guy.”
In his first two NFL seasons in 2020 and 2021, Queen struggled to make plays, didn’t see things well and made quite a few mistakes.
Then after the Ravens traded for Smith, everything changed for the former first-round pick. While there is an argument Queen was only good with Smith, it’s important to remember a few things: linebacker is one of the hardest positions to adjust to in the NFL for young players coming from college. Teams ask a lot of them pre- and post-snap, and it’s a real adjustment.
Also, the names Queen was playing next to at linebacker in his first two seasons? Chris Board, L.J. Fort and Malik Harrison in 2020 and Josh Bynes and Board in 2021. Not exactly high-end players.
Queen undoubtedly improved with Smith next to him, which led to a Second Team All-Pro year in 2023 after he had a career-high 133 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception.
Now, he heads to Pittsburgh try and be “the guy” for the Steelers.
“For his sake, I’m hoping that he learned something from Roquan, and he can incorporate that in this game and become the guy. I just don’t think he is,” Long said of Queen. “If he is the guy that I think he is, I think Steelers Nation’s gonna be a little disappointed. If he’s become a better player because of his time, his year and a half with Roquan, then…I don’t think he’ll be a Pro Bowl-level guy, but I think he’ll be a serviceable linebacker.”
The Steelers aren’t paying for a serviceable linebacker. They are paying for a game-changing linebacker, which Queen has shown to be the last two seasons in Baltimore.
The Steelers know him well, having had to game plan against him quite a bit, and believe he can step into the defense and become that key piece in the middle next to Elandon Roberts and hopefully Cole Holcomb.
Time will tell if he was so good just because of the attention Smith drew, or if — like many young linebackers before him — he just needed time to grow and mature in the NFL at a demanding position.
