Baltimore Ravens advanced stats review: Patrick Queen

Year four may be the final year for Patrick Queen with the Baltimore Ravens. The team will look to extend him, but it will be complicated, and they have already drafted Trenton Simpson, who is equipped to step into that role.

So, now the question is whether a case can be made for extending Queen. With the help of PFF, we can look into the advanced stats and see what they say.

Run Stop Rate

With a 14.9% run stop rate Patrick Queen ranked 13th out of 61 qualified linebackers, who had over 500 defensive snaps played. That was actually a better rate than Roquan Smith last season. To be fair, some of that may have to do with Smith. He went from a 10.9% rate as a rookie to 11.3% in year two, then exploded up to 14.9% last season.

Some notable names around Queen include Smith, Lavonte David, Pete Werner, and Tremaine Edmunds. Alex Singleton led the NFL with a 21% rate, but some notable names such as Willie Gay, Matt Milano, and Fred Warner were all over 15.5%, with Warner at 16.3%. 11.3

Missed Tackle Rate

One issue with Queen is that he ranked 53rd out of the same 61 linebackers in missed tackle rate at 14.2%. Roquan Smith was at 8.9%, which ranked 23rd. So, Queen was more active, but that was for good and for bad. His missed tackle rate actually dropped the past two years as well, from 18.3% to 17.5%, which is good, but both of those rates would have been worst in the NFL amongst players with 500 snaps.

Yards Per Target

With 7.5 yards per target allowed, Queen ranked 34th in the NFL. This dropped from 8.4 and 8.3 his first two seasons. So, it is another area where Queen excelled but also where he needs to improve. Notable names much better include TJ Edwards, Tremain Edmunds, Bobby Okereke, and Devondre Campbell. All of them signed deals in the past two years that Queen will look to, but teams will say that his coverage stats are behind them.

Beyond that, he ranked 18th in snaps per target and 20th in snaps per reception. So, he was being targeted often and giving up catches.

Yards after the catch per reception

Another area where Queen can improve is yards after the catch. He ranked 37th in YAC/C. Roquan Smith ranked 19th in this area, and you can see that Smith is much more consistent in his tackling on a play-in-play-out basis. He allowed just 5.5 yards after the catch as a rookie, but that shot up to 7.7 in year two. This year it has stuck at just 6.3, which is an improvement, but only slightly below average.

Forced Incompletion Rate

An area that will hold him up is the forced incompletion rate. He ranked 43rd last season. Fred Warner and Tremaine Edmunds were tied for first here, two of the highest-paid linebackers. They are both top-level in coverage stats, which is getting them paid. Last season Queen ranked 41st in this area, and he ranked 46th in 2020. This is where his tackle stats will fall on deaf ears because teams do not view him as a playmaker in coverage, and he gives up too many yards to be that unproductive.

Pressure Rate

One way to help Patrick Queen in coverage is to have him rush the passer. He ranked 5th amongst all linebackers in pass rush snaps. So, he had a good number of pressures. Still, he also ranked 5th in pass rush win rate and 10 in pass rush productivity. This is notable because his win rate was not top 30 in the first two years he played. So, he did see noted improvement.

Overall

What you see is what you get behind the advanced stats. He plays fast, and he makes plays, but also plays out of control and takes himself out of plays. His coverage skills are lacking, and he is not nearly a good enough playmaker in coverage to give up the yards that he does. So, the Ravens use him as a pass rusher, and his pass rush improvement this season may have changed the way that some view him.

Still, the ups and downs and challenges around his skill set are what make a contract discussion so tough at this point.