Ravens Take Patrick Queen In First Round of NFL Draft

Linebacker fills valuable need.

The Baltimore Ravens selected LSU linebacker Patrick Queen with the 28th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, filling a huge need for the team.

Baltimore had never taken a player from LSU in 24 years of NFL Drafts, spanning 201 total selections, including one supplemental pick in 2007.

It was no secret Baltimore needed to add a linebacker in this year's draft. The Ravens are especially thin at that position after Patrick Onwuasor agreed to a one-year deal with the New York as an unrestricted free agent and Josh Bynes signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

That means the Ravens only had L.J. Fort, Chris Board and Otaro Alaka as the only inside linebackers on the roster. Baltimore also added Jake Ryan last week pending a physical. Ryan has battled knee injuries over the past two seasons.

Queen has the talent to make an immediate impact in Baltimore because of his speed and physicality. He was ranked third on the Tigers with 77 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks over 14 games last season. Queen is being compared to Giants linebacker Ryan Connely by several draft analysts.

Queen played the best football of his LSU career down the stretch, earning defensive MVP honors in the win over Clemson in the national championship game. He is a versatile linebacker who mentored under All-America and Butkus Award winner Devin White one year ago.

"LSU has put a number of really good defensive players in the league over the last four or five years," Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said. "He's a guy that's sideline to sideline, he can play downhill, he's a very good cover linebacker. He was not a household name before this year. He played his best football probably over the second half of the season, really good performances in the playoffs and national championship."

Kenneth Murray was also linked to the Ravens, but he was taken by the Chargers with the 23rd pick.