Exit Patrick Queen, enter Trenton Simpson at inside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. More than any other organization, this is how they’ve always worked, allowing premium talents to leave, confident in their development. So while Roquan Smith is hoping for a shot at Queen on a special teams play now that the latter is with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he’s also looking forward to working with Simpson this upcoming year.
“I know the type of respect he has for the game and for himself”, he said, via the team’s website. “I know [Simpson’s] mindset, so I’m excited. He has all the potential in the world. It’s just going to be about putting that on the field week in and week out and just trusting his ability. If he does that, I think he’ll be the best second-year linebacker in the league, in my opinion”.
The Ravens, of course, anticipated this eventuality when they drafted Simpson in 2023. They paid up for Smith and made him the most expensive inside linebacker in history. Once they did that, they knew that they were not going to be able to afford retaining Queen. Perhaps they didn’t anticipate the Steelers being the highest bidder, but that’s the risk you take.
A third-round pick out of Clemson, Simpson recorded 165 total tackles over 33 games for the Tigers. He added 13 sacks and 23 tackles for loss, with three forced fumbles and five passes defensed. As a rookie for the Ravens last season, however, he only logged 46 defensive snaps. But he was a fixture on special teams, logging 258 snaps there.
All told, he accumulated 13 tackles on the season, including two for loss. He also managed to net one sack and recovered a fumble for his efforts. Queen and Smith left Simpson little room for playing time, however, because they combined for 2,198 snaps.
Now, the Ravens aren’t likely to just hand Simpson the job. They also have Malik Harrison, who played more defensive snaps than Simpson last year, on the roster. It’s possible that they look to add another off-ball linebacker relatively early in this upcoming draft.
But no doubt Baltimore saw this scenario unfolding when it drafted Simpson last year in the third round. It’s the same reason the Steelers drafted Alex Highsmith in Bud Dupree’s franchise-tag season. You can’t keep everybody, so when you know it in advance, you’re wise to plan accordingly.
Nobody asked Smith about Harrison, I will note, nor did he volunteer any thoughts. The Ravens signed him to a one-year extension just before he hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent. Yet another move made with an eye toward insulating against Queen’s departure, which of course everybody expected.
Just not necessarily departing for Pittsburgh.
