Steelers 4 Downs: Patrick Queen provides reliability, durability, versatility to defense

1. Queen in spades

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave Patrick Queen the richest contract to an external free agent in franchise history, and they figure to get plenty of return on that investment. Queen is expected to be an every-down player, an inside linebacker who plays in all situations and performs myriad and varied tasks.

Last season, in earning an AP NFL second-team All-Pro designation, that’s exactly what Queen was for the Baltimore Ravens. Queen played the fourth-most snaps (1,120) of any off-ball linebacker in the NFL in 2023. According to Pro Football Focus, he played more in coverage than any linebacker in the league (660) and he ranked seventh among his positional peers in snaps spent rushing the passer (107). Only four NFL linebackers last season played more often in coverage from the slot (103).

Queen, who turned 25 last month, also has not missed a game in his career. He appeared in all 72 Ravens games (including playoffs) since he was drafted 28th overall in 2020.

2. (N)ocean’s Eleven

In football parlance “11 personnel” represents that an offense uses one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers as its eligibles. It’s the NFL’s standard offense these days. But it doesn’t figure to be so for the Steelers this season under new coordinator Arthur Smith.

As Sharp Football Analysis reports, with Smith calling the plays as head coach last season, the Atlanta Falcons deployed 11 personnel the least often of any team in the NFL (17%). For frame of reference, the league average for 11 personnel in 2023 was 62% of offensive snaps.

The Steelers in 2023 were at 69%. That already took a precipitous drop-off in the preseason — and often because the Steelers would send multiple tight ends out there. Again, that’s a Smith hallmark. Last season, the Falcons led the NFL in plays in which they used two or more tight ends (61%) — by far eclipsing the league average of 27%.

3. Nick’s tricks

Nick Herbig had 3½ sacks over 33 defensive snaps played during August preseason games to give him seven over six career preseason games (109 total defensive snaps) since he entered the league as a fourth-round pick last season. Just against backups, you say? Well, Herbig had three sacks and two forced fumbles among 191 regular-season defensive snaps as a rookie.

The accounting by PFF emphasizes the point of how good Herbig has been at getting to opposing quarterbacks. Both of his NFL seasons he has been the highest-graded edge defender in the NFL during the preseason. OK, that’s subjective, and “only against backups.”

But if you combine the preseason and regular season, Herbig has 20 pressures and 10 sacks among 130 career professional pass rush snaps. That pressure rate of 15.3% compares to future Hall of Fame teammate T.J. Watt’s 2023 pressure rate of 15.6%.

4. Close and late

The formula for the Steelers to win in recent seasons has often been, “Keep it close, win it late.” The numbers exhibit that.

Over the past four seasons, the Steelers are 34-11 in games decided by eight or fewer points, including 9-2 in 2023. Per Sharp Football, those are the best respective records of any team in the league. The Steelers last season had a plus-29 point differential in the fourth quarter — they were minus-49 over quarters one through three — which was fifth-best in the league. The Steelers were the only team to win four games in which they were trailing after three quarters.

Only eight quarterbacks in NFL history have more fourth-quarter comeback wins than new Steelers starter Russell Wilson (31).