The Ravens thought enough of Queen’s potential to make him a first-round pick in 2020. However, he wasn’t a full-time starter at LSU until his final season, playing in a defensive scheme that was far different than Baltimore’s. Then Queen entered the NFL during the COVID-19 pandemic, robbing him of valuable offseason work with his new teammates as he transitioned to the league.

Now in his third season, everything seems to be coming together. Queen’s upward trend started last year after he moved from SAM to WILL linebacker playing next to veteran linebacker Josh Bynes. Queen started playing with more freedom and he took that up a notch in Week 1, diagnosing plays quickly and taking ballcarriers to the ground with solid tackling.

There’s never been a doubt in Queen’s mind that he can be a star linebacker, so he isn’t surprised when he plays like he did against the Jets.

(*3*) Queen said. “So, now, the focus is just [to] be able to do that consistently.”

Queen will get his next opportunity in Sunday’s home opener against the Dolphins (1-0), making his defensive reads against Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Miami’s young signal-caller was excellent Week 1 against the Patriots (23 for 33, 270 yards, one touchdown, 104.4 quarterback rating), and Queen has respect for Tagovailoa’s talent after facing him in college at Alabama. The Dolphins are one of the league’s top teams at play-action passing and Queen’s ability to read and react quickly will be essential.

“He is very accurate, and he can run the ball, too,” Queen said. “Dealing with a dual-threat quarterback, everybody has got to be on their keys, everybody has got to be doing their responsibilities. People in the media try to say he’s not a good quarterback – this and that. Obviously, if you start for an NFL team, you’re a good quarterback. So, we’re just going in being prepared, trying to take away those reads.