Training camp begins in just a few short days from now for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and there are more players and positions to watch than normal, with several overhauled position groups. Out of all the offseason additions, you could argue that Patrick Queen will have one of the bigger impacts on the team overall. He was signed as the highest-paid external free agent in team history, so high expectations are being placed on him. He has the most complete skill set of a Steelers ILB in quite some time, which could help free up those around him on defense.
“They knew they needed to beef up that inside and this is a guy that, he can bring it,” Charlie Batch said via Steelers training camp all-access on the team YouTube page. “He did a lot with the Ravens, so of course, having the opportunity to sign him here, he now has to eliminate what that rivalry looks like and understand what black and gold is here. He’s willing to take on that task and he’s going to now be that green dot in the middle of the defense. And he’s going to free up a lot of people ’cause this guy can play.”
Having a presence in the middle of the field that can both play the run and excel in coverage should be a breath of fresh air for the defense. This allows the coverage calls to be more creative with which areas of the field Queen is able to cover. It also frees up guys like S Minkah Fitzpatrick and S DeShon Elliott to play more to their strengths.
There was a lot of talk about getting Fitzpatrick back to “Minkah ball,” and Queen should be one of the big reasons that it is possible. If Fitzpatrick plays center fielder as the deep safety, he can have more of an impact and return to his ball-hawking ways. Injury limited him in 2023, but the defensive scheme also moved him around too much out of position. Now, he should be able to play to his instincts as a deep defender and find more opportunities to take the ball away.
It was especially apparent last season when the Steelers faced a rash of injuries at the ILB position. Mike Tomlin talked about calling December plays with September players. They had to dumb down the play calls to compensate for the loss of a steady presence in the middle. Queen will help stabilize that group and keep the defensive playbook wide open.
Another underrated aspect of Queen’s game is his ability to get after the quarterback. The Steelers have been on a nearly linear downtrend regarding sack production out of the inside linebacker group, but Queen is tied for the fifth-most sacks for an ILB since entering the league in 2020. The Steelers probably won’t blitz as much as the Baltimore Ravens have with Queen and Roquan Smith over the last couple of seasons, but that is one more thing that Queen can bring to the defense.
While the quarterback and wide receiver competitions will garner a lot of headlines and attention at training camp, the Steelers’ prized free-agent acquisition will be one of my favorite things to watch at St. Vincent College.
