Breaking down the Tide’s 29 first-round NFL picks: Minkah Fitzpatrick

This time, we will be focusing on another former Alabama football star, Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Since Nick Saban’s arrival to Tuscaloosa in 2007, Alabama has not only become a team that has created a dynasty winning national championships, but it also has become a program that sends players to the NFL every year.

With the 2020 NFL Draft happening in less than a month, it’s the perfect time to start a new series in which we will go over all of the Tide’s 29 first-round draft picks. The first player we went over was Andre Smith, who finished his career at Alabama with 15 awards and honors and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals as the No. 6 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. The second player we went over was former Alabama star linebacker Rolando McClain who would not only win many incredible awards while at Alabama, but was drafted by Oakland Raiders as the No. 8 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. The 3rd Alabama player drafted in the first round for the Tide was Kareem Jackson who would go on to be drafted by the Houston Texans as the No. 20 overall pick in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The 4th player to become drafted under Nick Saban was Marcell Dareus. Number 5 was Julio Jones who has spent his entire career in Atlanta after being the 6th overall pick in the 2011 Draft by the Falcons. The 6th first round draft pick under Nick Saban was James Carpenter who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the 25th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. At number 7 we have former Alabama running back Mark Ingram who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints with the 28th overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. The 8th player drafted by the Tide was Trent Richardson who was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Mark Barron was the 9th player drafted for Alabama in the NFL Draft. He was was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 7th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. The 10th player drafted for the Tide was Dre Kirkpatrick who was drafted as the No. 17 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. At No. 11, we have Dont’a Hightower who was drafted as the No. 25 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Dee Milliner was the 12th Alabama player drafted in the NFL. He was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. The 13th Alabama football player drafted in the first round was Chance Warmack who was selected in the first round as the 10th overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2013 NFL Draft. DJ Fluker was the 14th player drafted as the No. 11 overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. The 15th first round pick for Alabama under Nick Saban was CJ Mosley who was drafted as the 17th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens of the 2014 NFL Draft. Ha Ha Clinton- Dix was the 16th Alabama player drafted as the 21st overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Amari Cooper was drafted by the Oakland Raiders as the No. 4 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft and was the 17th first round pick under Nick Saban. The 18th first round pick under Nick Saban was Ryan Kelly who was the 18th overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft where has played at since 2016. Jonathan Allen was the 19th first round pick under Nick Saban who was selected Allen as the 17th overall of the 2017 NFL Draft where he has played since 2017. The 18th first round pick under Nick Saban was Reuben Foster who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers as the 31st overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.

This time, we will be focusing on another former Alabama football star, Minkah Fitzpatrick.

As a true freshman in 2015, Fitzpatrick started 10 of 14 games at free safety, recording 45 tackles (3 for loss), 2 sacks, 2 interceptions for a TD, 11 pass breakups, 1 QB hurry, and 1 punt return for a TD.

As a sophomore in 2016, he had 66 tackles, 1.5 sacks,  6 interceptions for 2 TDs, and 7 pass breakups. He also broke the Alabama all-time record for career interceptions returned for a touchdown as a sophomore.

In his junior season, he recorded 60 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 7 passes defensed.

Not only was a he a two time national champion (2015 and 2017) he also won the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jim Thorpe Award in 2017.

Fitzpatrick went on to be drafted by the Miami Dolphins as the 11th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft where he played from 2018-2019.

For the Dolphins, he recorded 92 tackles, 9 broken up passes, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 1 TD.

In 2019, the Dolphins traded Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season, he had 57 tackles, 5 interceptions, 9 broken up passes, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception.

Minkah Fitzpatrick
Photo Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports