Player: ILB Patrick Queen
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Patrick Queen had one of his best games as a member of the Steelers, coming closer to the playmaker they signed up for. With a sack and three tackles for loss among 11 total tackles, he made an impact in Dublin.
If Patrick Queen didn’t have the best game of his Steelers career last Sunday, he came close. Finishing with 11 tackles, including three for loss and a sack, he was a presence on the field. A sideline-to-sideline defender, he looked the part of the player the Steelers paid for in free agency last year. More important than return on investment, he looked his most comfortable as the quarterback of the defense.
Considering the communication issues the Steelers have had early this season, that’s pretty important. They still had one bad gaffe that Queen’s running mate, Payton Wilson, had to chase down, but that had more to do with injuries causing a mixture of personnel that wasn’t in sync. While that shouldn’t happen, there’s only so much the green dot can do about it.
But the Steelers controlled the Vikings’ run game, limiting Jordan Mason to 57 yards on 16 attempts. After starting off slow, they got him under control. Of his final 13 runs, only five were successful. Queen had multiple run stops against him, including one for lost yardage.
On the season, Patrick Queen has 35 tackles, including five for loss, with a sack and two passes defensed. He is on pace to record 148 tackles this year, which would be a new career high. His five tackles for loss already mark a halfway point to tying his career high of 10. But he is still looking for more splash, having yet to record a turnover. Notching a sack (on a gamble, in his words) is a start, but there is still more he can do to make an impact. That’s what they’re paying him for, and he knows that.
With the regular season on the way and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of thatchange the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency andthe 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing . What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
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