Bleacher Report posts their predictions for stat leaders in numerous categories.
Recent Alabama draftees have been making a splash in the NFL. It seems hard to talk about the best active players in any given position without mentioning a Crimson Tide product.
Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton predicted stat leaders for numerous categories. Three former Alabama players were mentioned by Morton as potential leaders in their respective categories by the end of the 2020 NFL season.
Here’s where they stand:
Rushing Touchdowns – Derrick Henry
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In 2019, Henry ran for 1,540 yards on 303 carries. He also had 16 rushing touchdowns, which was tied for the league’s best with Green Bay’s Aaron Jones.
Moton believes that the former Heisman winner’s size will be a key factor to him leading the NFL in touchdowns.
“Henry may not win back-to-back rushing titles, but he can continue to truck his way through defenses near the goal line as the engine of a potent offense that ranked 10th in scoring last season,” says Moton.
Every NFL team has at least one player whose play deserves more praise than it gets. Here’s every team’s most underrated player.
In the NFL, players are underrated for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, they’re second banana to a superstar whose deeds take up all the oxygen. Other times, it may be that the player has to climb up the depth chart as a little-regarded contributor, and the media hasn’t caught up yet. It’s also possible that the player has an incandescent talent that’s hidden by an unfavorable scheme. And it could also be that the player has had one great season, and everyone’s waiting to see if it’s a fluke.
No matter the reasons, every player on this list has set an exceptional standard deserving of more recognition. Here are the most underrated players for every NFL team going into the 2020 season.
Arizona Cardinals: EDGE Chandler Jones
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Do you know which NFL player has the most sacks since 2012? We’re kind of giving it away here, but yes, it is Chandler Jones with 96 since his rookie season. That puts him above Von Miller, J.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan, Justin Houston, Aaron Donald, and anyone else you’d care to mention. Jones also has 85 quarterback hits and 307 quarterback hurries in that time, but he’s rarely discussed when it’s time to talk about the league’s edge-rushers. This despite the fact that he led the league in sacks in 2017 with 17 and finished second to Shaquil Barrett with 19 last season. Perhaps it’s because he’s been doing his work of late with a Cardinals team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015, but no pass-rusher deserves more praise in line with his accomplishments than Jones.
Atlanta Falcons: DL Grady Jarrett
(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
Lost in the specter of the Falcons’ 28-3 meltdown in Super Bowl LI was the fact that Jarrett, the Falcons’ fifth-round pick in 2015, was a borderline MVP candidate with three sacks and four quarterback hits before everything fell apart. Downgraded out of Clemson because he was allegedly too short, Jarrett has been a remarkable interior disruptor throughout his NFL career. Whether aligned at nose tackle or three-technique, Jarrett has totaled at least 43 quarterback hurries every season since 2016. The Falcons rewarded him with a four-year, $68 million contract in July, 2019, but Jarrett still doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
Baltimore Ravens: OT Ronnie Stanley
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Who’s the best left tackle in the NFL today? Were you to poll 100 experts, you’d get several different answers. But it’s hard to argue against Stanley, who allowed just one sack and 10 total pressures in 543 pass-blocking snaps last season, and helped the Ravens put together the NFL’s most dynamic rushing attack in his 489 run-blocking snaps. The 2019 season marked Stanley’s first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods, and there should be more of that to come. Lamar Jackson is the talk of Baltimore’s offense, but it wouldn’t go the way it does without Stanley’s presence.
Buffalo Bills: WR John Brown
(JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE -Imagn Content Services, LLC)
The big news for the Bills this offseason was the trade that brought Stefon Diggs to the team, but Buffalo’s receiver corps was already pretty strong, and Brown was the primary reason in 2019. Despite the fact that he plied his trade in a new offense and took passes from erratic quarterback Josh Allen, the former Cardinal and Raven set a career high with 72 receptions and posted the second 1,000-yard season of his career. The addition of Diggs should give Brown more one-on-one opportunities to succeed — especially if Allen is able to get his GPS aligned.
Carolina Panthers: S Tre Boston
(Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Few deep safeties have been as adept in pass coverage than Boston over the last five season, so it has been a mystery why the Panthers cut him in 2017, and why he was unable to find more than a series of one-year deals with different teams until Carolina re-assessed its approach and signed him to a three-year, $18 million deal in March. It’s still chump change for a guy who plays as well as Boston does — he’s totaled 16 interceptions to just eight touchdowns allowed in his career — but it’s a nice bounceback for a player whose desire to protest may have cost him a more lucrative deal.
Chicago Bears: WR Allen Robinson
(Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
If any current receiver would be justified in filing a grievance against the NFL for lack of quarterback support, it would be Robinson, who has moved from Blake Bortles as his primary QB in Jacksonville to Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago. Hardly ideal. Still, Robinson led the NFL in touchdown receptions with 14 in 2015, and last season, with Trubisky falling apart most of the time, he still caught 98 passes for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. 2020 marks the last year of Robinson’s current contract with the Bears, and he’ll undoubtedly make the best of Chicago’s Trubisky/Nick Foles quaterback situation, and perhaps wind up on a team with a functional quarterback after that.
Cincinnati Bengals: RB Joe Mixon
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
The hope in Cincinnati is that the offense will come around with Joe Burrow at quarterback, but the Bengals are already set at the running back position, where Mixon gained 1,137 yards and five touchdowns on 278 carries last season, adding 35 receptions for 287 yards and three more touchdowns for good measure. Only five backs broke more rushing tackles than Mixon’s 52, and he totaled 14 runs of 15 or more yards last season, tied for fourth in the league.
Cleveland Browns: RB Nick Chubb
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Tennessee’s Derrick Henry was the NFL’s rushing leader in 2019, but it could easily be argued that Chubb was the league’s most efficient rusher. Not only did he gain 5.0 yards per carry (1,494 yards and eight touchdowns on 298 carries), but he also led the league in rushed of 15 or more yards (20), only the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs broke more rushing tackles than Chubb’s 66, and only Henry averaged more yards after contact per carry than Chubb’s 3.77. He was a one-man wrecking crew in a broken offense in 2019 — perhaps new head coach Kevin Stefanski can change that, but there’s no doubting Chubb’s status as one of the league’s rising stars.
Steelers Wire is taking a look at the players who make the secondary so good.
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Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been six seasons since Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, two of the best safeties in recent team history, were part of the Steelers secondary. There have been a dozen-plus starting defensive backs during that span who have come and gone.
With all their power, the Steelers have tried for years to find replacements for Polamalu, Clark, Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, and, yes, even William Gay.
After struggling to strike a chord with the secondary that has, on average, ranked 15th in five seasons, the Steelers might have just finally found something.
The Steelers secondary shot up from 17th in 2018 to fifth in 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, the defense as a whole went on to compile the second-most interceptions (20) and allow the second-lowest passer rating (85.4) among all 32 teams.
Here’s how we rank the top 10 safeties in the league going into 2020.
Safeties never seem to get the respect they deserve despite having one of the most difficult jobs in football. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t even see them on the broadcast angle during most games, but the position has been largely undervalued. That said, teams that don’t have enough talent at this spot are generally going nowhere fast. Let’s show them some love.
Here’s how we rank the top 10 safeties in the league going into 2020.
10. Tre Boston
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Boston admittedly wasn’t one of the league’s top safeties when he was drafted by the Panthers in 2014. He improved with time though, especially after he was released three years later and got signed by the Chargers. During his one season there and another with the Cardinals, Boston developed into an excellent free safety. His superb range and plus ball skills (three interceptions, 11 pass breakups in 2019) finally helped him cash in with a three-year, $18 million deal.
With team facilities still closed to players, Steelers defensemen have been getting together to workout.
Can confirm that Edmunds, Minkah and Hilton are also working out in Pittsburgh with a number of Steelers’ defensive players. #Steelerspic.twitter.com/UINofbCV3o
With players not yet permitted at team facilities, several have been getting together to get some work in.
What better trio than Terrell Edmunds, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Mike Hilton? According to this social media post, the three have been working out with a number of Steelers defensive players.
Apparently, Edmunds is pretty confident he’ll be offered a fifth-year option from the Steelers in 2021. He’ll need it to pay off this new Rolls Royce.
Tre’Davious White was named to the All-Analtyics teams by NFL.com writer analytics expert Cynthia Frelund.
While the eye-test showed Tre’Davious White performed well, the advanced stats revealed the depth of his dominance last season. White was named to the All-Analytics teams by NFL.com writer analytics expert Cynthia Frelund.
Frelund highlighted White’s performance with a deep dive into his per-play contributions. She writes:
PFF tracked 83 targets thrown to a receiver in his coverage without him allowing a touchdown, which was the most in the NFL. He also recorded a 43.0 passer rating allowed in coverage, which was second-lowest in the NFL (among those with a minimum of 50 targets). The gap between Gilmore and White was the closest for any first- and second-ranked player at a position.
White earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for his work last year, vaulting him into the conversation of top lockdown cornerbacks in the league. He tied for the league lead with six interceptions last year.
Interestingly enough, four of the five defensive backs named to the all-analytic squad have ties to the AFC East. New England’s Stephon Gilmore and New York’s Jamal Adams were mentioned as the best among their counterparts with these statistical metrics, while Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick, a former Miami Dolphin who was traded in September, was also named among the league’s best.
The Steelers have several talented young stars but only one made this list.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers have a very good young football team. There are spots where the Steelers could use some additional youth but for the most part, this roster wouldn’t be considered old. NFL.com put out their team of top players under 25 years old but only one member of the Steelers made it.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has less than one full season with Pittsburgh proved to be a true gamechanger in the defensive backfield. Here’s what they had to say about Fitzpatrick’s addition.
Entirely worth the first-round pick Pittsburgh shipped to Miami, Fitzpatrick hit the Steel City as a change agent. Serving as the tipping point for a stocked defense, Fitzpatrick zoomed to an All-Pro nod as a ballhawking marauder stacking five interceptions, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, nine passes defensed, one pick-six and a fumble taken to the house. “We have a first-round pick,” Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said in April. “And that was Minkah Fitzpatrick.”
Which Steelers missed the cut who should have made it?
The first names that come to mind are wide receiver Dointae Johnson and linebacker Devin Bush. Both guys are young stars in the league and had huge 2019 seasons. But they seem to have just missed the cut.
Former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick expects to play multiple roles for the Steelers in 2020. This comes after a 2019 Pro Bowl season
Former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is expected to serve multiple roles for the Steelers defense in 2020, which is reminiscent of his time at Alabama and with Miami.
Fitzpatrick was drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins. After only one season with the franchise, he requested a trade which was granted early in his sophomore season in the NFL.
In the 2019 season, where he spent 14 games with Pittsburgh, he recorded five interceptions, nine pass deflections, 57 tackles, two fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns. These stats earned Fitzpatrick a 2019 Pro Bowl selection.
He was thriving as a free safety with the Steelers. However, things may look very different for the former Alabama standout.
“Now, if the coaches want me to move around, I’ll move around,” Fitzpatrick tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If they don’t, then I don’t need to. I’m trying to learn the system and get it down to a ‘T,’ just in case if they ask me to move, I can move.”
He claims to have been extremely limited in his knowledge of the Steelers’ defensive playbook and gradually got more comfortable as the season went on.
This is an interesting sentiment that conflicts with reports from the beginning of Fitzpatrick’s trade talks which stated that he was “convinced coaches didn’t have a clear plan for him. He doesn’t believe they put him in the best position to succeed,” according to the Miami-Herald.
It may forever be unclear if Fitzpatrick was unhappy with the Dolphins’ decision to utilize him in different positions which lead to his eventual departure from Miami. However, it’s certain that he’s ready to do just that with Pittsburgh for the 2020 season.
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Pittsburgh might want to move Minkah Fitzpatrick around on defense to take advantage of his skills.
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'I'm a very self-motivated type of guy. I am training just as hard as I would be, if not harder if I was in the facility. Doing everything I can to stay in shape. When I get back, make sure I hit the ground running.' – @minkfitz_21
On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick did a Zoom call with the media and talked about the potential of him playing multiple spots in the Steelers secondary. Despite being named an All-Pro last season while playing free safety exclusively, Fitzpatrick seemed open to the idea of moving around if it’s what is best for the team.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just like going out there making plays and being where I need to be, and last year where I needed to be was in the middle of the field. It worked out fine. This season, just keep doing what we need to win games. If that’s corner, linebacker, whatever that may be, that’s what I’m going to do.”
If you followed Fitzpatrick’s time before the Steelers traded for him, you know his relationship with the Miami Dolphins wasn’t the best. And part of the disagreement supposedly pertained to the Dolphins wanting to move him around on defense. But now he’s ok with it?
I’m sure part of the reason this would even be considered is because seven games into Fitzpatrick’s first season with Pittsburgh, his stats took a nosedive. As Fitzpatrick points out, this was due in part to the lack of opportunities when teams started throwing away from him. A bit more scheme flexibility could keep Fitzpatrick more involved in the scheme and allow him to make more big plays.
CBS Sports NFL writer Pete Prisco stirred up Steeler Nation when he chose to omit Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick off of his Top 100 players list. An omission that wasn’t missed by Fitzpatrick himself.
In the video above you can see Prisco work hard to make his case that he did his research and based on the three games he watched, Fitzpatrick was good but not good enough to make the list.
The impact of Fitzpatrick on the Steelers defense extends well beyond his individual play. Here’s how the team stats broke down from before Pittsburgh traded for Fitzpatrick and what things looked like after.
Fitzpatrick has a nose for the football and through Week 10 he really impressed with his ability to get his hands on the football. We can debate why Fitzpatrick seemed to slow down in the final six games but regardless, he was named to the Pro Bowl and was an All-Pro. The notion an All-Pro isn’t one of the best 100 players seems absurd. But this seems to be something that will just push Fitzpatrick in 2020.
