Every NFL team has two starting quarterbacks. One leads the offense, slinging the ball around the field while getting all the praise and all the media attention. The other wears the green dot on defense. He’s in charge of calling the defensive formation, reading the opposing offense and making audibles before the snap to ensure that all 11 defenders are on the same page and in the best position to make a play.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier discussed his time as the quarterback of the Steelers defense from 2014-2017 with Cam Heyward on a special live episode of the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast.
“I feel like I was extra tough on you your rookie year,” Heyward said.
“Nah, all you guys were,” replied Shazier. “I honestly feel like that helped me become the guy that I ended up becoming…the Pro-Bowler and all that.”
Shazier was a first round draft pick, so it’s not shocking that he was expected to be an impactful starter his rookie year. But wearing the green dot is an entirely different challenge. Not only did Shazier need to learn an NFL defense for the first time, he also had to know it better than anyone else because he was the signal-caller on defense from the first day.
“Coach Tomlin, Coach LeBeau and Coach Butler said ‘Hey Ryan, you’re obviously calling the plays at rookie mini-camp, but just know you’re calling the plays for the defense when everybody comes back,'” Shazier said. “I thought I might work my way up the depth chart…the depth chart was like ‘No, you’re starting. You’re calling the plays.”
Through trial by fire, Shazier became more comfortable as the defensive quarterback of the Steelers. He discussed watching hours of film with Heyward, Vince Williams and others, learning how to process things much quicker on defense while also figuring out how to put his teammates in the best position to succeed every snap.
“The year I made the Pro Bowl, before the season started, me and Coach Tomlin before every practice used to go to his room and me and him would talk about what we wanted the day to look like, like you do with quarterbacks,” Shazier said. “He was like ‘Ryan, the one thing I’m going to tell you is every time you make a call, every time you’re thinking about setting a defense, set it for the best situation for your teammates, not for yourself.”
Shazier makes it clear that being an effective signal-caller in the middle of the defense was a multi-year process. It didn’t click instantly. It took extensive reps in practice and games, extensive film study, and lots of one-on-one time with Coach Tomlin and the entire defensive staff before the position felt totally natural to Shazier.
That should be an encouragement for the Steelers’ current green dot wearer, middle linebacker Patrick Queen. While he wasn’t a rookie when he signed with the Steelers last offseason, Queen had very limited green dot experience in the NFL. His former teammate Roquan Smith took over that responsibility once he was traded to the Ravens. So Queen had just one offseason to learn a new defense and take on an entirely new role that is the most mentally-taxing role on the entire defense.
Queen shined at times last season, flying into the backfield to tackle running backs for losses, deflecting passes and forcing a few fumbles. There were also plenty of times where he looked lost, out of position on pass plays leading to big gains in the middle of the field. And it’s been well documented that the Steelers had a lot of communication issues on defense in the second half of the year. While the secondary received a lot of blame (safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Deshon Elliott in particular), Queen is the one who is supposed to put them in the right position.
Queen still did enough to make the Pro Bowl last season as a replacement. He should only grow and improve in his second season quarterbacking the defense, just like Ryan Shazier did years ago.
