The Baltimore Ravens got the guy they wanted all along, taking LSU linebacker Patrick Queen with the 28th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. It wasn’t an easy journey for Queen though, who enters the NFL with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
In most mock drafts, Queen was the second or third linebacker taken in the 2020 NFL Draft. After Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, it seemed to be a toss-up between Queen and Kenneth Murray going to the Ravens. In recent mock drafts, Queen didn’t even make it as far as Baltimore’s No. 28 pick. So to see him not only last that long, but be the fourth linebacker taken, clearly spurred him on.
“It does give me a lot of motivation because I feel like I’m the best linebacker on the board at the time,” Queen said. “It is what it is at this point, I feel like everything happens for a reason and God put me in this place for a reason.”
Queen is going to a team with a rich history of great linebacker play. From Ray Lewis to C.J. Mosley, when people talk about Baltimore football, they often think of smothering defenses led by the linebacker in the middle. But Queen has no doubts he’s the man for the job, saying the Ravens weren’t just getting a player but that he was bringing a “lot of tools” as well.
“Y’all gonna get the most energetic player from this draft, the most passionate, the most dominant, the most studious,” Queen continued.
Queen has a lot to live up to but Baltimore has rarely missed in the first round of the draft recently. And with the attitude he showed after being taken, it seems like the Ravens might just keep that first-round luck going with Queen.
