23 Days of Draftmas: LSU linebacker Patrick Queen

We continue our tradition of profiling an NFL Draft prospect every day in April, leading up to the NFL Draft on April 23rd. Every day, you’ll get a prospect profile that includes how they would fit with the Kansas City Chiefs.

A very Merry Draftmas — and a happy KC Draft Guide release day!

We’re so excited for today’s launch at 12 noon Arrowhead Time. It’s been months and months of hard work — and we are very pleased to present you with the finished product. To celebrate, we’re giving you one of the 225-plus write-ups right here.

Last year, our release-day player for 25 Days of Draftmas was a Virginia safety named Juan Thornhill. We’re hoping our luck continues with a young, talented linebacker out of the SEC who could drastically change the second level of the Chiefs defense.

Patrick Queen, linebacker

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

6’ | 229 lbs | LSU

Ventress, LA | 8/13/1999

Grade (round): Second

Draft Range: Round one

40 time: 4.5

NFL Combine: 35” vertical jump, 125” broad jump, 18 bench reps

2019 Stats: 85 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups

Background: Started 12 of 15 games in 2019. Started four of the last five games in 2018. Four-star recruit. 2016 Warrick Dunn Award finalist for the top player in the Baton Rouge area.

Strengths: Queen has exceptional range for the linebacker position. He can be trusted in man coverage against running backs and tight ends. His fluidity makes him one of the best coverage linebackers in the class — and he can open effortlessly to carry vertically up the seam. Queen has excellent spacing in zone coverage and has a good feel for routes transitioning in or out of his zones. He has good length, using it well to separate from blockers to make a play — and also when moving laterally to scrape over a blocker on stretch runs. Queen takes good angles to the ball carrier, using his the speed to knife through early gaps while still maintaining the proper angle. He loves to blow up screen passes, using good burst, speed and block slipping to make impactful stops.

Weaknesses: There are questions about Queen’s football IQ — particularly when reading interior gaps. Too often, he leaves the cutback lane open and drives to the farthest play-side gap — even when another linebacker is already covering it. Despite Queen getting the starting nods at the end of 2018, LSU trusted other linebackers to start in 2019. His block deconstruction is inconsistent; he struggles to put it together on a snap-to-snap basis. At the next level, Queen will probably need to add a little mass to his frame to play inside the way he does.

How he fits with the Chiefs: Queen is an ideal fit as a Steve Spagnuolo WILL linebacker. His athletic profile — and ability as a pursuit linebacker — would fit well on early downs to help contain speed backs while he develops his gap discipline. Queen would be a perfect fit in coverage in sub packages — while still being able to be effective against the run. If Queen is available to the Chiefs, Spagnuolo might be pounding the table to get a true three-down linebacker.

What would it be like to be a Chief: “It’d be crazy. Always looked up to Tyrann growing up. Just being able to step on the field with him — get some coaching from him — that’s something crazy.”

Player comp: Deion Jones

Fit Likelihood: High

KC Draft Guide: Championship Edition

Monday is the launch day for the 2020 KC Draft Guide: Championship Edition! You’ll get over 70 quotes from prospects on what it’d be like to be drafted by the Chiefs, 225+ write ups like this one on Patrick Queen, a big season review and more! Over 300 pages of Chiefs draft content right here.