The Pittsburgh Steelers made ILB Patrick Queen their biggest free agent signing in team history this offseason. Part of the reason they felt comfortable doing that is because they knew Queen, playing him for years in Baltimore. His former Ravens teammates still find themselves chirping at him, but he is happy in Pittsburgh. And the Steelers and his defensive teammates are happy to have him.
“I’ve seen him do a lot on film watching AFC North [games]”, T.J. Watt said of Queen, via the team’s website on Wednesday. “He does a great job of picking inside stunts. They did a great job in Baltimore with him. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of good, fun games drawn up, and we’ll all have an opportunity to eat”.
The Steelers most thrive on defense when they have dynamic inside linebackers, and Patrick Queen certainly qualifies as that. An All-Pro in 2023, he averages 115 tackles, nine for loss, with three sacks, 1.3 forced fumbles, an interception, and four passes defensed per 17 games played. With his combination of speed, strength, and athleticism, you won’t find many more complete off-ball defenders.
“He got that energy”, second-year DL Keeanu Benton said of Queen. “He’s got strength, he’s fast. I feel like he’s the package, man”.
A 2020 first-round draft pick out of LSU, Patrick Queen has 67 career starts and is only about to turn 25 years old in two weeks. He has only gotten better as he has matured and gained experience, but his versatility is his consistent trait.
He has 13.5 sacks in his career as an off-ball linebacker, for example, with no fewer than two per season. Beyond that, he averages an interception per year, with zero only once in a season. And he has at least one fumble forced every year. He has only grown in coverage, with three interceptions and 12 passes defensed in the past two years. But defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will especially have fun blitzing Queen.
We already took a look at Patrick Queen as a blitzer earlier in the offseason, and you can see that it is a genuine asset he will bring to this defense. Just ask Vince Williams if the Steelers like to blitz their linebackers. If they get Payton Wilson into the rotation, there is even more they can do. Of course, Elandon Roberts is more than capable of blitzing—for the pass or the run. Want to see every sack Queen has recorded in his career? Ross McCorkle already has you covered.
one thing you might notice in these clips is that there isn’t a ton of disguising. The fact that Queen is able to get home as well as he does without that is good, but the Steelers will do even more to mask who is rushing and when. After all, this is the legacy of 2024 Hall of Honor inductee Dick LeBeau’s zone blitz system.
