Ravens drafts LSU linebacker Patrick Queen with 28th pick
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens got a potential starter in the middle of their defense by selecting linebacker Patrick Queen out of LSU with the 28th overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night.
Queen had 85 tackles, three sacks and an interception to help the Tigers win the national championship. He left LSU after his junior season and ends up with the Ravens, playing the same position that Ray Lewis filled for 17 seasons during a Hall of Fame career.
Baltimore had a difficult time filling the position after C.J. Mosley left to the Jets as a free agent following the 2018 season. Patrick Onwuasor and Josh Bynes were adequate, but both players departed during the offseason as free agents.
Queen has the potential to step in and start immediately. He had 16 tackles in the Tigers’ two College Football Playoff games.
The 6-foot, 229 pounder joins a defense that last year was overshadowed by a powerful offense that averaged 33.2 points per game.
Ravens second-year general manager Eric DeCosta focused heavily on improving the defense during free agency, shoring up the line by obtaining tackle Calais Campbell in a trade with Jacksonville and signing former Broncos end Derek Wolfe to a one-year contract.
Those moves were made after Baltimore allowed a franchise-record 4.4 yards per rush in the regular season and allowed Derrick Henry to ramble for 195 yards in Tennessee’s 28-12 upset victory over the Ravens in the playoffs.
In another nod to the defense, DeCosta placed the franchise tag on outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who led the team with 9 1/2 sacks.
DeCosta hoped to address several other deficiencies during the 25th draft in Ravens history. He got the ball rolling by taking Queen, and has two more days to add to the list. Baltimore has four picks on Friday during the second and third rounds — Nos. 55. 60, 92 and 106.
Baltimore went 14-2 last year and entered the postseason riding a 12-game winning streak behind the play of multi-faceted quarterback Lamar Jackson, selected in the first round of the 2018 draft. Jackson ran for 1,206 yards, a single-season NFL record for a quarterback, and threw 36 touchdown passes for the highest scoring offense in the league.
But the Ravens sputtered against the Titans in the playoffs, and the retirement of eight-time Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda created a hole that must be filled. DeCosta is also looking for a deep threat to complement Marquise Brown, who caught seven touchdown passes after being drafted 25th overall in 2019.
“Hopefully, we can build our offense to the point where (it is) undefendable,” DeCosta said before the draft.
In preparing for the first virtual draft in NFL history, DeCosta was confident that the Ravens would be able to conduct business as usual.
“There are some challenges, nothing major, but we’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We think it’s going to work out well for us.”
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
