Steelers' Patrick Queen Has Relied On Former Teammate To Understand The New Defense

The Pittsburgh Steelers are entering a new era. New coaches, philosophies, and schemes are now in town and even established veterans are in for a ton of change. With all of these adjustments, one of the most important will be a new defensive scheme and culture. The newly-hired defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, a Yale graduate and veteran play-caller, will be bringing his way of doing things to the Steel City. With this, the hope is to improve a defense that was the highest-paid and one of the oldest in 2025, but fell short of expectations. 

The defense encountered many blunders, especially when it came to communication. With many broken coverages resulting in huge plays for the opposing offense, many felt as if schematics and coaching were to blame. 

Now, Pittsburgh has a brand new staff, and with Graham's coaching, the defense should be in a better spot. Throughout Organized Team Activities (OTAs), Steelers defenders have been praising Graham and noted that he is making it a point of emphasis to improve communication. With this in mind, the defense's biggest communicator, the green dot linebacker Patrick Queen, will have a lot on his hands to ensure that verbiage is understood by his teammates, especially during games.

As the Steelers continue to install their new defensive system, Queen has been looking for advantages beyond practice. He has been speaking with a former Steeler teammate from 2024, Elandon Roberts, about the intricacies of Graham's system. 

Roberts played under Graham in 2025 with the Las Vegas Raiders, and the two have been discussing the nuances of the scheme. This was talked about on the Kaboly + Mack Show, where Steelers insider Mark Kaboly and Chris Mack discuss current Steelers news. 

"Patrick Queen was talking last week about how he was chatting up former Steeler Elandon Roberts, who obviously played last year with Patrick Graham in Vegas with the Raiders. You're comparing notes on the new guy, and the one thing Queen talked about was communication," Mack said. "It's a different way of communicating. They could be streamlining it a little bit more. Elandon Roberts is a smart individual, so as long as they can streamline it, same verbiage, and everyone knows what's going on, that should help them out," Kaboly said. 

Queen relying on his former teammate is a smart choice. Getting it from a familiar voice, who isn't a coach, will offer a new perspective for him. All of these efforts could help Queen continue to acclimate to the green dot role, and help the overall defense. 

Queen's willingness to reach out will be vital. The Steelers' defense needs a leader, especially within the inside linebacking corps. His understanding of the role and all of the plays is most important, as he's the play-caller. Graham and the coaching staff are counting on Queen to become a great communicator, so things can improve in 2026. Queen's comfort and being on the same page with the staff will only ensure the defense is being run the way it's supposed to. 

Steelers' Queen Needs To Have Big Year

With this being Queen's contract year, having a stellar season will be important not only for the improvement of the defense but for him specifically. Since coming to Pittsburgh, the linebacker has had his ups and downs. He's taken a different role, because when he was playing in Baltimore, he was not the defense's primary communicator. 

Since taking on the position, he has needed some time to get used to it. The 2025 campaign wasn't a great year for Queen, but he proved he could be a solid player when the scheme benefits him, especially for his previous team. This season will be a reset for Queen, and a big year could command big money in free agency. 

Pittsburgh needs its linebacker to be the star he was brought in to be. The time is now for Queen, and with the limited depth in the inside linebacker room, there's a very small margin of error. 

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