90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Patrick Queen, John Rhys Plumlee, Elandon Roberts

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason workouts ended in mid-June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which begins at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe in late July. Leading up to the Steelers’ training camp, we’ll be doing a series of posts looking at the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which also includes projections for each player, will be sorted alphabetically by last name for easy followability. This series is expected to include more than 90 players this year, as the team will be able to bring a total of 91 players with them during the offseason due to the team’s international designation being allowed.

The next players we will feature before the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Patrick Queen, John Rhys Plumlee and Elandon Roberts.

ILB Patrick Queen: The Steelers made Queen their most valuable unrestricted free agent addition this offseason by signing him to a three-year, $41 million contract in March.

Selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of LSU by the Baltimore Ravens, Queen has appeared in 67 regular season NFL games, recording 454 total tackles, 37 for loss, 13.5 sacks, 33 quarterback hits, four interceptions, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and 15 passes defensed. He played a total of 3,831 defensive snaps in the regular season, with 31 additional snaps on special teams. Queen has also appeared in five playoff games, recording 23 total tackles, one for loss and two quarterback hits in those postseason games.

Last season with the Ravens, Queen recorded 133 total tackles, nine for loss, one interception, six passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hits. For the 2023 season and including the playoffs, Pro Football Focus rated Queen’s defensive play at 73.0, the best grade of his NFL career. Queen was also selected to the Pro Bowl last season and this was the first time he received that honor.

Outlook: The plan for Queen in 2024 is really easy to discuss, as he was signed as the Steelers’ new defensive quarterback. He is expected to be the team’s primary inside linebacker and wearer of the green dot. In addition to that distinction, Queen is expected to lead the Steelers in tackles and tackles for loss in 2024. While he may not play every defensive snap in 2024, he shouldn’t be off the field on many plays.

Queen is an excellent pass rusher when called upon, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him record at least five sacks in 2024. After all, he’s averaged just over three per season since entering the NFL. Queen should also be good for at least one interception in 2024, since he’s averaged that many in his first four NFL seasons.

The Steelers made Queen their most valuable free agent of the offseason for a reason, and as such, he is expected to have a great first season in Pittsburgh. If he lives up to expectations, Queen could very well end up as a Pro Bowl selection again and perhaps even be seriously considered for All-Pro selection.

QB John Rhys Plumlee: This year, the Steelers signed just five undrafted free agents immediately following the 2024 NFL Draft, and Plumlee, a product of the University of Central Florida in Mississippi, was one of them. The Steelers gave Plumlee a $35,000 signing bonus, which is now a record amount for undrafted free agents in the organization’s history. Plumlee went from quarterback to wide receiver at Mississippi before transferring to UCF and returning as a quarterback.

During his college career, Plumlee completed 464 of his 760 total pass attempts for 5,838 yards with 34 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He also ran 453 times for 2,556 yards and 28 touchdowns. In addition, Plumlee caught 26 passes for 296 yards during his college career. However, nineteen of those receptions for 201 yards came in 2021 at Mississippi. He also made a kickoff return for 14 yards that same season.

Outlook: The Steelers rebuilt their quarterback team in the offseason. This included the team signing two experienced players in Russell Wilson and Kyle Allen and trading for another in Justin Fields. In short, Plumlee comes to Pittsburgh as a rookie quarterback at the bottom of the rankings.

Unless Plumlee gets injured, he probably won’t get much playing time at quarterback during training camp. He may not get any playing time in the preseason either, as the other three quarterbacks are all new to the team.

Overall, it would be a huge surprise if Plumlee even makes the practice squad after the preseason. He has some experience as a wide receiver from his college days, so he may get a few snaps at that position in training camp as summer workouts continue in Latrobe. While Plumlee is an overall athletic player, his road to the NFL is extremely tough. Just making the NFL practice squad for Week 1 would be a huge accomplishment for him.

ILB Elandon Roberts: The Steelers signed Robert to a two-year, $7 million unrestricted free agent contract in March of last year, and the veteran inside linebacker had an impressive first season in Pittsburgh.

Roberts, who entered the NFL in 2016 with the New England Patriots as a sixth-round pick out of Houston, recorded 101 total tackles during the 2023 regular season, including 10 for loss. He also recorded 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hits and two passes defended in just 581 defensive snaps during the regular season. Roberts also recorded an additional 126 snaps on special teams during the regular season.

In the Steelers’ only playoff game last season, Roberts played a ton, recording five total tackles, a quarterback hit, and a pass defense in that game. Due to some injuries the Steelers had at inside linebacker, he was the green dot on defense for much of the 2023 season.

Roberts finished the 2023 season with a 72.2 overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus, his best grade since entering the NFL. While Roberts was never known as a great coverage linebacker throughout his NFL career, he largely held his own during this phase of his game in 2023.

Outlook: There’s no reason to believe Roberts won’t be part of the Steelers’ 53-man roster in 2024, especially after his good performance in 2023. When Roberts was originally signed, it was thought he would complement fellow new ILB Cole Holcomb. However, with both Holcomb and fellow new ILB Kwon Alexander sidelined with serious injuries mid-season, Roberts was a starter in every game during the second half of the 2023 regular season. He played many more snaps in 2023 than originally expected and overall did not disappoint.

In 2024, Roberts is not expected to see much playing time as the Steelers signed Queen as a free agent to make him the team’s new every-down player at inside linebacker. Additionally, Holcomb is hoping to see him return from the serious knee injury he suffered last year. If he does, he will be on the field on defense when the team uses its base defense. Expect Roberts to continue playing alongside Queen in the 2024 season.

If Holcomb returns later than originally planned, Roberts would benefit in terms of playing time. There’s also probably a tiny chance the Steelers will give up on Holcomb altogether if he doesn’t fully recover and return to playing like he did before his knee injury.

Roberts played a significant number of special teams snaps in 2023, so it will be interesting to see if he gets roughly the same number in 2024 during this phase of the game. All in all, Roberts will have a role to play in the Steelers’ defense in 2024. How much he plays in that unit will likely depend mostly on what happens with Holcomb.

Previous posts in this series:

90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Montravius ​​Adams, Kyle Allen, Spencer Anderson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Grayland Arnold, Calvin Austin III, Anthony Averett
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Kalon Barnes, Tyler Beach, Keeanu Benton
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Beanie Bishop Jr., Chris Boswell, Marquez Callaway
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jack Colletto, Dylan Cook, Jacob Copeland
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – James Daniels, Daijun Edwards, DeShon Elliott
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jalen Elliott, Troy Fautanu, Breiden Fehoko
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Justin Fields, Joey Fisher, Dez Fitzpatrick
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Thomas Graham Jr., Devery Hamilton, Anderson Hardy
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Najee Harris, Nate Herbig, Nick Herbig
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Cameron Heyward, Connor Heyward, Alex Highsmith
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Cole Holcomb, Donte Jackson, Van Jefferson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jaray Jenkins, Kyron Johnson, Cameron Johnston
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Broderick Jones, Damontae Kazee, Miles Killebrew
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Christian Kuntz, DeMarvin Leal, Logan Lee
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry, Jonathan Marshall
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, Nate Meadors
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Scotty Miller, Jeremiah Moon, Dan Moore Jr.
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Tyler Murray, Larry Ogunjobi, Cordarrelle Patterson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – David Perales, La’Mical Perine, George Pickens
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Joey Porter Jr., Willington Previlon, MyCole Pruitt