It's no secret to Pittsburgh Steelers fans that the Patrick Queen signing hasn't exactly gone as planned. When the former Baltimore Ravens linebacker was brought to the Steel City on a three-year, $41 million deal back in 2024, the hope was that he could finally give the Steelers what they had been missing ever since a tragic injury ended the career of Ryan Shazier nearly a decade ago: high-level play at the LB position.
Instead, he has largely been disappointing as the man roaming the middle of Pittsburgh's defense. Whether you believe in the advanced stats from places like Pro Football Focus or Pro Football Network, or the old-fashioned eye test, Queen has been one of the least impactful starting LBs in the NFL over the past two seasons.
His struggles led to trade talks with the Dallas Cowboys earlier this offseason, and even after those talks stalled, the Steelers have continued to make decisions that point to Queen's imminent departure. The latest of them came on Friday, when four draft prospects visited Pittsburgh. Among them was standout Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez, who might as well be the exact opposite of Queen as a player.
Busy day back in Pittsburgh where the Steelers are hosting 4 pre-draft visitors including North Dakota state QB Cole Payton. In his lone season as a starter, he threw for 2,719 yds, 16TD, 4INT
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) March 20, 2026
Also in: Washington CB Tacario Davis, TTU LB Jacob Rodriguez and GT OL Keylan Rutledge
Jacob Rodriguez visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers is a huge red flag for Patrick Queen's future
Rodriguez is projected to be an early second-round pick after a strong combine quelled some concerns about his athletic profile. His 9.59 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) is actually significantly better than Queen's 7.98 mark from when he was a prospect coming out of LSU in 2020.
Make no mistake, though, Queen is the more dynamic athlete on film by a considerable margin. Where Rodriguez projects to be better than Queen, however, is nearly every other aspect of playing the position. Whether it's tackling consistency, diagnosing run games, or creating splash plays like forced fumbles and interceptions, Rodriguez proved in his final college season that he has all the intangibles that the best NFL LBs possess.
Will he ever be elite in man coverage or be a true sideline-to-sideline player? Probably not, but instincts and football IQ matter more at LB than almost any other position in the NFL.
That is the area that Queen has never quite progressed enough in to become a consistently impactful player. He lacks discipline as a cover player, which neuters what should be a strength given the amount of ground he can cover. He is too often out of position in the run game as well, occasionally leaving massive gaps or overrunning plays entirely.
Queen will have a great individual performance from time to time, but they are far outweighed by his poor ones. If the Steelers want to take a chance on a linebacker to replace Queen in this year's draft, Rodriguez checks all the boxes.