A few weeks ago, Patrick Queen looked like a player the Steelers could move before the trade deadline.
That conversation doesn’t make much sense anymore.
Queen has gone from a shaky fit to one of the biggest reasons Pittsburgh’s defense is surging during a four-game winning streak. With the Steelers now sitting at 6-2 and alone in first place in the AFC North as they head into their Week 9 bye, Queen has become too important to even consider shipping out.
The turnaround has been real. After a rough opening stretch, the 27-year-old has put together his best run in Pittsburgh, and it started to show in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He backed that up with a strong showing in Week 7 against the New Orleans Saints, where he sacked Tyler Shough on his final dropback and helped limit New Orleans to 18 yards on 17 carries.
Then came Week 8, and Queen was even more disruptive in the blowout win over the Cleveland Browns. He finished with a career-high 1.5 sacks, added a pass deflection, and led the team with 12 tackles while helping hold Cleveland to 34 yards on 15 rushing attempts.
That’s a far cry from where this looked earlier in the season. Queen was viewed as a bounce-back candidate after Mike McCarthy was hired as the Steelers’ head coach and brought Patrick Graham in as defensive coordinator, especially after his first two years in Pittsburgh never quite clicked under Mike Tomlin’s system.
The struggles were hard to ignore. Queen led the NFL with 32 missed tackles in 2025, per Pro Football Focus, and his work in coverage also became an issue. The former Pro Bowler wasn’t a superstar over his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, but he clearly regressed after arriving in Pittsburgh.
Trade chatter followed him for months. Dallas reportedly pursued him in March, though nothing came of it.
And after his slow start this season, Queen was again mentioned as a possible deadline piece. Pittsburgh’s signing of Elandon Roberts to the practice squad on October 12 only added to that speculation, since it seemed possible Roberts could eat into Queen’s snaps.
That never happened. Roberts still hasn’t been elevated, and Queen has answered with a stretch that has erased most of the doubt around his role.
He’s now not just surviving in Graham’s defense - he’s thriving in it. Alongside Payton Wilson, who has also taken steps forward this season, Queen has become a central part of a Steelers defense that is starting to look like one of the league’s best.
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George Pickens Is Reminding Steelers Fans Why Pittsburgh Moved On
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Those worries are resurfacing in Dallas, where Pickens has also been managing a shoulder injury while trying to settle in. For Steelers fans, it is a familiar reminder of why the organization chose to move on: the production was real, but so were the frustrations, and the latest chapter suggests the same questions are still attached to his game. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Browns, the frustration is becoming familiar whenever Watt lines up across from them. His latest impact only adds to a long-running problem for Cleveland, and it comes as Pittsburgh continues to lean on his production while sitting at 6-2. Watt has been a steady force all year, and the Browns are just the latest team to be left dealing with the aftermath. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Fans Are Asking If This 6-2 Start Feels Different
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What makes the discussion interesting is the sense that this team may be built a little differently than some recent Steelers squads that flashed early and then faded when the season tightened. The next stretch will say a lot about whether Pittsburgh can keep stacking wins and turn a promising first half into something that lasts into January. [Read more 🡒]