The inside linebacker position has been forced to evolve with the rise in prominence of spread offenses and high-caliber passing attacks around the league. The ideal inside linebacker needs to be able to stop the run, but they also need to be able to drop in pass coverage and move sideline to sideline. On top of the physical requirements for the job, they need to be highly communicative and act as the quarterback of the defense. Very few athletes can excel in all of those areas, but the Pittsburgh Steelers think they got one in free-agent addition Patrick Queen.
“We needed to acquire a defensive quarterback, and we did that in Patrick Queen,” Mike Tomlin said in an interview with CBS Sports HQ after practice. “He is a top-notch player. We’re highly familiar with his skill set and capabilities, obviously. He’s an all-situations linebacker. He’s been a really good communicator. He fits in. It’s been a beautiful experience, man. It’s been really enjoyable infusing him into this thing, and that’s what we’re really excited about.”
Last season was brutal for the Steelers’ inside linebacker group. They had to start seven different players at the position as they attempted to fill in the gaps after Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander went down with season-ending injuries. At one point, Tomlin acknowledged that they had to dumb down the defense because it wasn’t working, making “December calls with September people.”
Other than the brief time that the ILB group was together in 2023, the Steelers haven’t had a great all-situations linebacker since Ryan Shazier went down with a career-ending injury in 2017. Queen was a second-team All-Pro last season for the first time and proved to be highly effective in all areas of his game. He has the fifth-most sacks for an ILB since he entered the league in 2020, he had the 17th-most tackles last year with 133, and he’s had 12 total passes defensed, including three interceptions over the last two seasons.
Having that type of player in the middle of the defense could make a much bigger impact on the defense than anybody is giving it credit for right now. Just look at what the Steelers were able to accomplish on defense without somebody like Queen in the middle. They gave up the sixth-fewest points in the NFL and were eighth in total turnovers forced. With Queen, the Steelers have significant playmakers at every level of their defense.
