Unless you ask someone in the media or the Baltimore fan base, the signing of second-team All-Pro inside linebacker Patrick Queen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency was a home run.
Pittsburgh plugged a major hole and added a high-end talent in the process, giving Pittsburgh its best inside linebacker since the days of Ryan Shazier.Â
Though it’s just Organized Team Activities and the start of padded practices remains a few months away in training camp, excitement is quite high regarding Queen in the Black and Gold, especially from teammates.
That includes star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“He’s a guy that flies around. He plays sideline to sideline, he plays with a lot of passion, a lot of energy,” Fitzpatrick said of Queen Wednesday after an OTA practice, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “He’s a high-IQ guy, and I think just adding a guy like that in the linebacker room is something that we need, something that is gonna be very valuable this upcoming season.”
On tape, Queen is a sideline-to-sideline linebacker, one who played his best football the last two seasons in Baltimore. He earned a second-team All-Pro honor in 2023 with the Ravens after recording a career-high 133 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception.
That impressive 2023 season made him the best player in free agency at his position, and the Steelers made a sizable splash in landing him, addressing the linebacker position in a major way.
Queen brings a great deal of passion, energy and a high football IQ to the table at the position, which was shown the last two seasons in Baltimore. He was a dominant player in college at LSU who was quite boisterous on the field and certainly made his presence known. He does not lack confidence, either.Â
That will rub off on the rest of those in the inside linebacker room, too, and should make him a great pairing with Elandon Roberts, who has similar traits, as far as confidence, energy, passion and physicality.
The Steelers have tried to fix the linebacker room quite a bit in recent years. They seemed to fix it early last season with Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander and Roberts, but injuries took a toll, leading to them searching for more answers in free agency.
Queen provides those answers and has Fitzpatrick excited for what’s ahead in 2024 defensively at the position.
