Patrick Queen knows well about the labels people give him. These labels show up whenever the Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker searches his name on social media.
There are many labels—Queen thinks there are at least 100. They cover a range of criticisms, such as his supposed inability to do certain things and issues with communication. This is surprising given that Queen is known for talking a lot, both during games and off the field.
The label that bothers him the most is the idea that his impressive performance with the Baltimore Ravens was just because he played next to All-Pro Roquan Smith.
Queen, who just signed the biggest free-agent deal in Steelers history, wants to change this perception. He acknowledges that Smith is “a hell of a player and a hell of a teammate, a hell of a leader” and the best in their position, but he disagrees with the notion that his own success was merely due to opponents focusing on Smith.
Queen doesn’t buy into the idea that his career-high 133 tackles last year were just because opponents were planning to stop Smith and left him free to make plays. He is determined to show what he can do on his own.
The Steelers are counting on him to prove himself. Since a spinal injury ended rising star Ryan Shazier’s career in 2017, the inside linebacker position has seen many players come and go.
If Queen dislikes the comments about him online, they are nothing compared to the challenges faced by Jon Bostic, Mark Barron, Joe Schobert, Devin Bush, and Myles Jack, who all had relatively short tenures with the Steelers while trying to fill Shazier’s role with mixed results.
The team hopes it has finally found someone to fill Shazier’s spot, and so does Queen, who grew up in Louisiana dreaming of playing for the Steelers.
“It felt like I was destined to be here,” he said.
This strong sense of destiny is one reason Queen has embraced his role in Pittsburgh. He’s not the first player to switch from one AFC North rival to another, but he is definitely the loudest.
“He’s got a lot of juice, energy, bringing it every day,” outside linebacker Nick Herbig said. “And he’s out there just talking (smack), you know?”
This energetic personality is useful for a player who needs to pass on the defensive calls from coordinator Teryl Austin to the other players on the field.
The interesting part is that, despite Queen’s confident and talkative nature, the Steelers believe having a reliable three-down linebacker like him will benefit their defense, which will need to step up while a new offense led by Russell Wilson gets settled.
In recent years, Austin had to shift the responsibility for calling plays or have an assistant do it from the sideline because there wasn’t a linebacker versatile enough to stay on the field in every situation.
Now, with Queen in place, there’s hope that having a consistent person calling the plays will be reassuring for the defense.
“It can get a little erratic sometimes with who’s calling and who’s got it,” Austin said. “There’s been times we had different guys doing it. So, I think you have that one steady person. I think that’s really calming for the defense.”
It might be the only time you’ll see “calm” and Queen mentioned together in the same sentence. Before the snap, he is 6-feet and 232 pounds of constant movement.
If he’s not directing the defensive line to shift positions, he’s signaling to the secondary about coverage. Or he’s talking to fellow inside linebacker Elandon Roberts as they split their responsibilities for a play.
Austin described Queen as a player the Steelers “can build around.” Despite his confidence, Queen understands his place on a defense that features a top pass-rush duo with All-Pro T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
“If I do my job to the best of my ability to give them guys the second to get back to the quarterback, they’ll get there,” Queen said.
Queen might also get a chance to sack the quarterback himself. He has 13 1/2 sacks in four seasons and might have more chances to make plays in Pittsburgh, a place known for its aggressive defense.
Queen is ready to do whatever is needed because he believes he can handle it. He doesn’t care about the labels given to him elsewhere. His goal is much bigger.
“I want to be great,” he said. “I want to be ‘The Guy.’ My whole mindset coming here was just ‘Trying to be the best that came through here’ and etch a name for myself.”
