On March 15, 2024, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Raven, Patrick Queen, to a three-year contract. This was regarded as a great signing for the Steelers as the team lacked a true linebacker one since 2017. Patrick Queen is coming off a Pro Bowl season with Baltimore and has emerged as a top inside linebacker in the league. While the Steelers had 7 different starters at middle linebacker. This has been common for the Steelers in the past few years as the linebacker position has been a low point in the defense for a while now. But why is that?
The last time the Steelers had a Pro Bowl middle linebacker was Ryan Shazier. The man was drafted out of Ohio State in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. Shazier was producing and developing as his career progressed. However, due to an awkward tackle against the Bengals in 2017, Shazier was temporarily paralyzed and was never cleared to play football again. This not only stopped a great and promising career. It would also be the start of a long period of disappointing linebacker play. Vince Williams, who played alongside Shazier would take over the linebacker one role until 2019. Where the Steelers would select, Devin Bush out of Michigan, tenth overall. Bush would appear in 52 games for the Steelers but after an ACL tear early in his second season, He was never the same player. The Steelers would not accept his fifth-year option and in return, Bush was picked up by the Seahawks on a one-year deal. Another promising inside linebacker went down the drain.
Between 2019 and 2021, the Steelers would sign veteran linebackers on short-term deals. The Steelers’ general manager at the time, Kevin Colbert, would sign the likes of Mark Barton, Avery Williamson, Joe Schobert, and Robert Spillane, just to name a few. While some would play better than others, they would just be a fill-in for the next one. This seemed to be a repeating pattern. Nonetheless, the Steelers would sign a young and downhill linebacker from Washington, Cole Holcomb. Holcomb would start all 8 games that he appeared in and had 54 total tackles in 2024. Cole would suffer a nasty ACL tear midway through the season that would end his first year with the Steelers. Without the injury in mind, Cole Holcomb showed a lot of promise and hope for the Steelers. It seemed like Omar Khan had turned the Steelers in the right direction.
Then Omar Khan would make the money move by signing Patrick Queen. The Steelers would go from having an injury-prone linebacker core, to a certified top linebacker group in one offseason. This is a testament to how good Omar Khan is as a general manager. Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, and Elandon Roberts are in a prime position to thrive this upcoming season and it is all thanks to the mastermind of Omar Khan.