When the Pittsburgh Steelers selected linebacker Payton Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, veteran linebacker Patrick Queen — who had signed as a free agent a little over a month prior — was rather fired up.
Now, after Day 2 of Organized Team Activities on the South Side, Queen is even more ecstatic about having a guy like Wilson in the Steelers’ revamped linebacker room.
“Athlete. Got that mindset. You can kind of tell the way he talks. He’s a really smart player,” Queen said Wednesday, according to video via Aaron Becker on Twitter. “But you can tell he’s about that action with football stuff…That’s the type of guy you want in your room.”
Wilson turned some heads immediately after being selected by the Steelers for stating that his mindset is taking people’s heads off at the linebacker position.
His play matches that mindset, which is a major positive for the Steelers. They knew coming into the offseason that they needed to address the inside linebacker position, and then seemingly hit a pair of home runs with the signing of Queen and then the selection of Wilson out of North Carolina State.
The selection of Wilson following the signing of Queen, gives the Steelers two uber-athletic linebackers who can run and hit, and handle coverage duties. They in turn give Pittsburgh some answers in today’s NFL for being able to not only defend the run but be able to stay on the field in passing situations.
The inside linebacker position has been a bit of an issue for the Steelers since the loss of Ryan Shazier, and though the Steelers appeared to find some answers last season, injuries to Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander left the room shorthanded. The Steelers made sure that won’t be the case this year with the additions of Queen and Wilson.
Having been part of a great off-ball linebacker room in Baltimore the last few seasons, Queen knows what greatness looks like, thinks like and performs like. He’s a big believer in Wilson and is happy to have him as part of Black and Gold moving forward.
