Queen B: LB secured
There’s new royalty in Baltimore, as LSU linebacker taken 28th
The Ravens addressed their most urgent position of need in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night, taking LSU inside linebacker Patrick Queen at No. 28 overall.
Queen projects as a do-everything, three-down linebacker for the Ravens, who have lacked a star at the position since All-Pro C.J. Mosley left in free agency after the 2018 season. Queen’s only the third linebacker the Ravens have taken in the first round in franchise history; Mosley and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis were the first two.
Queen fortifies a position low on experience and pedigree. The Ravens cycled through players at the position last year. Josh Bynes was not re-signed despite a solid year in stopgap duty, and Patrick Onwuasor joined the New York Jets the after an up-and-down contract year.
The defense’s top returning linebacker is
L.J. Fort, who had three career starts before making eight last season. Chris Board has never started, and Otaro Alaka has never played an NFL snap. Recent signing Jake Ryan has played just two games since 2017 because of knee injuries.
At a safety-sized 6 feet, 229 pounds, Queen is a new-age linebacker. With a 4.5-second 40-yard dash (fourth fastest among linebackers at the NFL scouting combine) and 125-inch broad jump (eighth best at the position), he compares physically to the Minnesota Vikings’ Eric Kendricks, a first-team All-Pro selection who played every defensive snap in nine games last season.
Despite not starting until LSU’s fourth game last season, he finished the year third on the team with 85 total tackles, including 12 for loss, along with three sacks and an interception. Over the Tigers’ final four games, including the Southeastern Conference championship and their two College Football Playoff games, Queen had seven tackles for loss and 2½ sacks.
On a Ravens defense that embraces positional flexibility, Queen could be a centerpiece. In coverage, he’s shown the skills to carry wide receivers into deep zones, blanket running backs coming out of the backfield and spy on mobile quarterbacks. As a blitzer, he has the acceleration, change of direction and tenacity to puncture pockets.
Even in run defense, where Queen would be most vulnerable at the next level, he plays with the intelligence, lateral quickness and technique to stay a half-step ahead of onrushing linemen.
With a long wait Thursday, it was uncertain whether he’d even fall past the mid-20s. After a somewhat uneventful opening hour, the draft offered opportunities for the Ravens to trade up and land maybe the draft’s top wide receiver. But after the Las Vegas Raiders took Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and the Atlanta Falcons grabbed teammate Jerry Jeudy at Nos. 12 and 15, respectively, the Ravens held pat. Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, a close friend of Ravens wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, instead landed with the Dallas Cowboys at No. 17 overall.
Before long, possible Ravens were flying off the board. Over a four-pick span, the Jacksonville Jaguars took LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, the Philadelphia Eagles picked TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor, the Minnesota Vikings selected LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson, and the Los Angeles Chargers drafted Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray after trading up to No. 23 overall.
With Queen still on the board, the linebacker-needy New Orleans Saints instead went for an interior offensive lineman: Michigan center Cesar Ruiz, another player connected to the Ravens. The Green Bay Packers seemed like a threat after trading up to No. 26, but they took Utah State quarterback Jordan Love instead.
The Ravens have enjoyed success in the first round ever since taking left tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis with their first two picks as a franchise in 1996. Of their 25 first-round picks over 24 years, 14 have appeared in a Pro Bowl, five have been honored as an offensive or defensive Player of the Year, and three have made the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Those picks have been especially fruitful lately, with the Ravens taking All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley (2016), All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey (2017) and NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson (2018) over the past four years.
The Ravens have eight remaining picks in this year’s draft, including two selections each in the second, third and fourth rounds. The draft resumes Friday night with the second and third rounds and concludes Saturday.