Patrick Queen 2020 NFL Draft Profile

Patrick Queen 2020 NFL Draft Profile

A four-star recruit out of Livonia High School in Louisiana, Queen was a four-year starter who played both sides of the football at linebacker and running back. Queen lead his team on offense as well as defense and finished his senior season with 1,731 all-purpose yards, 19 touchdowns, and 66 total defensive tackles. Furthermore, Queen was a top 15 recruit in the state of Louisiana in 2017 and his athleticism generated offers from schools such as Indiana, Nebraska, and Tulane before choosing to play for LSU.

As a true freshman, Queen gained experience and saw instant playing time where he appeared in 12 games for the Tigers. The following year, Queen again saw extensive playing time, appearing in all 13 games for LSU and finishing his sophomore season with 40 total tackles. Queen built upon his strong 2018 season and as a Junior in 2019, Queen played in 14 games, 11 of which were starts. Additionally, Queen helped lead LSU’s defense on their National Championship run and finished the season with 77 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, along with 2.5 sacks.

Strengths

Versatile three-down NFL inside linebacker

Quick play recognition which stems from solid football IQ

Can handle the mental workload of a professional linebacker

Extremely fluid athlete with explosive lateral movement

Very slippery defender which helps him shed blockers

Violent tackler with good technique

Tremendous range from the inside with excellent pursuit instincts

Very good in coverage due to his athleticism along with brains for play recognition

Weaknesses

Not going to shed blockers with pure strength

Not a thumping run stopper

Limited college experience with only 16 starts for LSU

Can struggle to bring down bigger ball carriers

A tad undersized

NFL Comparison: Lavonte David

Projection: Mid to late first round

Bottom Line on Patrick Queen

Queen fits the mold for what teams look for in a modern, three-down, inside linebacker. The LSU prospect has elite quickness and athleticism both when diagnosing run plays as well as when dropping into coverage. Queen’s strong football IQ coupled with his overall athletic mobility often results in him being one of the first defenders to the spot of a play. While he is a tad undersized and demonstrates just average strength when engaging blockers, Queen utilizes his savvy quickness in order to consistently slip off blockers. Additionally, Queen’s quickness and smarts translate when in coverage and he demonstrates strong play recognition skills as well as an impressive feel for pass catcher’s routes. Furthermore, Queen’s versatility is an extremely attractive trait for teams as he can play inside and outside linebacker within base defenses along with staying on the field within sub-packages.

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