Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward saw Patrick Queen twice a year in Baltimore, so he knows what he’s all about. During a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Heyward raved about Queen’s talents and what he’ll add to the defense.
He’s also glad that he’s on the opposite side of the rivalry now.
“I think it’s funny. I think I read on Twitter [X] he views himself as a villain now. I’m like, ‘Nah, bro, you’re just a hero now,'” Heyward said. “You’ve been a villain all this time; you just became a hero. You know, I’m excited. I think, you look at his game, man, he comes downhill. … I think having a guy like that who can play the run, play the pass. He’s a three-down linebacker who allows the team to be more flexible and more versatile in our approach. And, man, I just love the way he’s gonna meet dudes in the hole. And, you know, we got some great running backs in our division; you got Nick Chubb, you got Derrick Henry now, so we gotta have a linebacker who is willing to stick his face in the fan if you know what I mean.”
During an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio at the 101 Awards ceremony a few weeks ago, Watt also gave high praise to Queen. He expects him to be the that “true dawg in the middle.”
“On the defensive side of the ball. How about Patrick Queen? I’m super excited for that addition,” Watt said. “Going against him (for four years) in Baltimore, I have all the respect for him. A guy who is a true sideline-to-sideline (player). Sure tackler. Can drop in coverage, can do everything. To be that true dawg in the middle is what every good defense needs, and that’s what I’m looking for from him.”
The Steelers will use Queen as an all-situations player, head coach Mike Tomlin said at the NFL owner’s meetings in late March.
That shouldn’t be a surprise, as Queen was the most-played player on the Ravens defense last season, recording 1,121 snaps — 96.9% of the Baltimore defensive snaps, and more than even first-team All-Pro Roquan Smith.
With the Steelers, he will likely play in the base defense, and the Nickel and Dime sub-packages, and could also be the green-dot communicator for the defense, as he was in Baltimore.
“He’s an all situations linebacker, and so that’s exciting,” Tomlin said. “He’s a guy that’s a three-down player. He’s a guy that can do a lot of things, can tackle, can cover, can blitz and he’s 24 and a half years old, so he’s got that great combination of youth and experience and I think those are some of the reasons why we are really excited about bringing him on board and can’t tell you how exciting it is just because of the familiarity, as well. We’ve seen a lot of him, he’s seen a lot of us and it’s going to be an exciting marriage.”
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