Up, Down or Stay: Analyst says ultra-athletic LSU LB Patrick Queen is a ‘risky pick’

With so many restrictions in place for the 2020 NFL draft, teams are going to rely heavily on game tape. Simply put, the more tape a player has, the better.

That might not bode well for LSU’s Patrick Queen.

The 6-foot- 229 pound junior wasn’t on many analysts’ radars to start the season, but as the year progressed, the more it became apparent that Queen was another in a line of star LSU linebackers.

And that’s part of why it took him so long to crack the starting lineup full-time, as Queen was stuck behind Devin White, last year’s No. 5 overall pick in the draft. Overall, Queen started 16 of 41 career games over three seasons.

Patrick Queen is unblockable pic.twitter.com/ulRfktjnZv

— John Chapman (@JL_Chapman) April 12, 2020

However, Queen possesses elite athleticism. His 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds ranks in the 94th percentile, according to Mockdraftable, while his 125-inch broad jump ranks in the 91st percentile. He also tested well for the vertical jump (35 inches, 64th percentile) and for his hand size (10 inches, 75th percentile).

Still, his lack of experience combined with his size may concern teams.

Mike Band, analyst for Next Gen Stats, listed Queen as one of the six riskiest prospects in the draft.

“His limited production over the course of his career earned him a production score of 60 (in the Next Gen Stats model), lower than every linebacker selected in the first round over the last 12 years, and significantly lower than his former teammate, White (99),” Band wrote for NFL.com.

“… Queen is slightly undersized for the linebacker position (66 size score), but does possess elite athleticism (98 athleticism score). Among current NFL starters to come out of LSU in recent years, Queen’s athleticism score (98) ranks second behind only Devin White (99) and ahead of Kwon Alexander (82) and Deion Jones (79). His production score, however, significantly trails those guys’ figures (all three earned production scores of at least 87).”

Queen is generally seen as a likely first-rounder and one of the top-three linebackers in the draft.

Jake Rigdon (jake@sydwriting.com) covers the NFL draft for Fanspeak and the On The Clock, which is the only NFL draft simulator that allows you to customize and use your own big board while giving you control over trades.