Player
Patrick Queen
LB · Steelers
Patrick Queen: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
He took a contract from a division rival — and his game changed completely.
TrendQueen defensive production by season
| Year | Team | Tackles | Assists | Sacks | TFL | QB Hits | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | BAL | 65 | 41 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 2 |
| 2021 | BAL | 61 | 30 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | BAL | 69 | 40 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| 2023 | BAL | 77 | 50 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| 2024 | PIT | 63 | 70 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| 2025 | PIT | 62 | 67 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
Solo tackles vs assists (career)
| Season | Count |
|---|---|
| Solo BAL | 65 |
| Solo BAL | 61 |
| Solo BAL | 69 |
| Solo BAL | 77 |
| Solo PIT | 63 |
| Solo PIT | 62 |
In Baltimore his solo tackle counts climbed every year — peaking at 77 solo in 2023, the season before he left. In Pittsburgh the solo numbers held steady (~62-63) but his assists nearly doubled (40-50 in BAL → 67-70 in PIT). It's the same player working a different gap structure: more flow-and-fill, less downhill blow-up.
BAL Queen was a pass-rusher. PIT Queen is a coverage LB.
SplitCareer production by team
| Era | Tackles | Assists | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL 2020-23 (4 yrs) | 272 | 161 | 11 | 35 | 38 | 15 |
| PIT 2024-25 (2 yrs) | 125 | 137 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 11 |
The BAL years: 11 sacks, 35 QB hits, 38 TFLs across 4 seasons — almost 9 sacks-per-year worth of negative-play impact. The PIT years: 2 sacks, 10 QB hits, 15 TFLs across 2 seasons. Pittsburgh has T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith to win the pass rush; they put Queen in the underneath zones, and his PDs are actually up per-year (5.5 vs 3.75).
14 QB hits in 2022 — extraordinary for an off-ball linebacker.
RareQueen QB hits by season
| Year | QB Hits | Sacks |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 11 | 3 |
| 2021 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | 14 | 3 |
| 2023 | 7 | 3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 |
Most off-ball LBs finish a year with 3-5 QB hits. Queen had 14 in 2022 and 11 as a rookie in 2020. Mike Macdonald's BAL scheme turned him into a green-dog/A-gap-blitz weapon — the 2022 number was the third-highest in the NFL among 4-3 MIKEs that season. Predictably, his pressure rate has fallen off in Pittsburgh's more conservative two-high looks.
Queen vs. his draft-class twin Jordyn Brooks: same year, picks #27 and #28.
ComparisonCareer combined tackles — 2020 1st-round LBs
| Player | Pick | Team | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordyn Brooks | #27 | SEA/MIA | 774 |
| Patrick Queen | #28 | BAL/PIT | 695 |
Brooks went one pick ahead of Queen. Six seasons later, Brooks leads in tackles (774 to 695) but Queen leads in TFLs (53 to 47), sacks (13 to 12), and QB hits (45 to ~25). Brooks is the volume player; Queen has been the more disruptive one.
Career-high tackle assist totals in both Pittsburgh seasons — he's still adapting to the new role.
MilestoneTackle assists by season
| Season | Assists |
|---|---|
| BAL | 41 |
| BAL | 30 |
| BAL | 40 |
| BAL | 50 |
| PIT | 70 |
| PIT | 67 |
In BAL he averaged 40 assists per year. In PIT: 68.5. The doubled assist rate is partly scheme, partly aging — at 26 he's reading runs a half-step later than the 22-year-old version, getting in on tackles after the contact has started. Net result: combined tackles are stable, but the way he gets there is different.
Pass deflection rate is at a career best — the coverage role is sticking.
AnomalyPass deflections by season
| Year | Team | PD |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | BAL | 2 |
| 2021 | BAL | 1 |
| 2022 | BAL | 6 |
| 2023 | BAL | 6 |
| 2024 | PIT | 7 |
| 2025 | PIT | 4 |
7 PDs in 2024 was the high-water mark of his career, and 11 total across 2 PIT seasons matches what he did in 4 BAL years. For a former first-round blitzer, the coverage volume up is the cleanest piece of evidence that the role has fully shifted.
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