The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2024 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at Saint Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at SCN prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario…

Scenario: Patrick Queen will set career highs in sacks and INTs

Why it will happen: The Pittsburgh Steelers new shiny toy at inside linebacker, Patrick Queen, absolutely brings with him a nice resume as he stays within the AFC North division. Similar to the scenario I did with Pat Freiermuth earlier this week, talking about him reaching career highs, I was curious if Queen could do the same in two impact categories this season. Those categories would be none other than in sacks and interceptions.

What are Queen’s career marks in these categories? Let’s take a look…

Career Highs:

Sacks: 5.0 (2022)

INTs: 2 (2022)

With the addition of Queen to the defense, the Steelers now have a new element of their defense they can use on a regular basis. Queen isn’t just fast and athletic, but a tremendous blitzer. If the offense wants to put all their attention on stopping the edge rusher, T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, the defense could harken back to the days of Larry Foote and James Farrior and blitz more up the middle. While getting to 5.5 sacks isn’t impossible, it will be a challenge.

As for the interceptions, I think there is a high likelihood Queen is able to overtake that mark considering what the Steelers ask of their linebackers in coverage. Being dropped into the middle of the field you can expect Queen to make more plays on the football, just like he did vs. Mitch Trubisky in 2022 at Acrisure Stadium.

Why it won’t happen: As stated earlier, the interception mark might be the easier one to break, in terms of career highs, but the stat I find more difficult are the sacks. Last season might not be the best indicator for how the defense will utilize their inside linebackers, considering the massive amount of injuries they had at the position, but in 2023 all inside linebackers combined for less sacks than Queen’s single-season career high.

I mentioned the Dick LeBeau approach to defense where he would blitz the inside linebackers was once the norm, but it seems as if we would have to see a serious change in philosophy from Teryl Austin to see Queen set a new mark in sack production. In other words, when you combine Austin not blitzing the inside linebackers a lot in his tenure with the Steelers and the team’s lack of production in the past, it seems unlikely Queen can set that new career mark.

Prediction: While I would love to see Queen set new marks for interceptions and sacks, I just don’t see it happening. If he does, it would be amazing and a huge boost for Queen as the big free agent fish landed this offseason, but if he doesn’t it shouldn’t be viewed as if the signing was a failure.

Miss a scenario? Check out yesterday’s scenario below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.

30 Scenarios In 30 Days: The Steelers Will Have A Winning September