Baltimore Ravens: 5 players who must be on point vs. Bills
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Ravens Linebacker Patrick Queen
While Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill can be sneaky mobile at times, it wasn’t a key threat Baltimore had to worry about too much in the Wild Card round.
That won’t be the case with Bills quarterback Josh Allen, whose elusiveness and scrambling abilities netted 421 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season.
If there’s good news here, the Ravens defense already faces off against one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, Lamar Jackson, in practice on a week-to-week basis. So the prospects for guarding against Allen’s ground mobility won’t be too unfamiliar a task.
Still, there’s a good chance Baltimore puts a spy on Allen for much of the game, and few are better at doing so than rookie linebacker Patrick Queen, who is making a case for himself being one of the top up-and-coming defenders after an impressive first-year campaign.
The Ravens will need Queen’s weak-side playmaking abilities, as he’ll often look to limit Allen when he rolls to his left, and that’s not his strong suit when trying to throw the ball on the run.
If Allen is flushed out of the pocket, Queen’s opportunities should rise considerably.