Welcome to the rest of the season / deep dynasty profile for Ravens Inside Linebacker Patrick Queen.
Reflecting back to 2020 and Patrick Queen's NFL.com rookie draft profile. It pretty well sums up why the Ravens recently made the blockbuster trade for Roquan Smith. That's not a crack on Queen, either. This might be a different story if he was in one of the other 31 NFL teams’ defensive schemes.
It’s what the Ravens expect of their main linebacker, which, in the end, was asking way too much of Queen's skillset. Clearly, it didn't work out quite as they would have liked in development. So now, after slipping to under par again in his third year, it's understandable why the Ravens made the trade for the rest of this 2022 season as they make a run to the playoffs.
This means Queen will likely become the second inside linebacker. Unfortunately, that doesn't guarantee full-time snaps or, normally, any solid IDP consistency. That is, unless Baltimore now decides they have two higher-end linebackers. And doing so would work in favor of running this complex defensive scheme. This seems highly unlikely when they haven't even come close to doing so recently.
So for the rest of 2022, barring any injury to Roquan Smith, Patrick Queen will be a lower-end LB2 with a tier one with a hit-or-miss ceiling. This will cap his season's IDP ceiling to under triple-digit combined tackles, relegating this one-time upper-tier one option. It will also slide Queen down to a deeper standard league or bye-week defensive play for the rest of the season.
Dynasty Profile
Let's look ahead at Queen's dynasty profile and the draft capital the Ravens spent to acquire Roquan Smith. It's highly unlikely they don't give Smith the big contract he's due as an elite linebacker in 2023.
So, with Queen still under his rookie contract, unless traded, he is now clearly playing second fiddle to Smith through next season, too.
So, what is the hot take on Queen's dynasty value? Of course, his situation has taken a big hit, but there is some hope for the long term. Because, as we've mentioned, we're not that down on Queen entirely. The odds are great that he'll get his shot again elsewhere in a couple of years when he's a free agent.
Ultimately, Patrick Queen needs to be targeted by a defensive scheme that doesn't focus on his run-stopping or run blocker-shedding but more on his open-field speed. The one thing he's really good at is playing off the ball and mainly staying in coverage.
Thank you for checking out Patrick Queen's IDP profile. If you're interested, catch more of my Tipster fantasy football and NFL IDP content on Twitter at @TheIDPTipster, or find all my future IDP Guys content at IDPGuys.org. Let’s chat! I’ll always find time to talk defensive player football anytime.
