Tag: Minkah Fitzpatrick

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick slides in new ESPN rankings

The Steelers are still trying to figure out how to best utilize Minkah Fitzpatrick.

It’s not Minkah Fitzpatrick’s fault that the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coaches don’t know what to do with him. Since trading for Fitzpatrick, Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin seems to have alternated seasons where they let Fitzpatrick play his style of football and followed it up with a season where they handcuffed him to be a run stuffer.

This failing by Austin is why when ESPN asked NFL executives, coaches and scouts to rank their Top 10 safeties in the league, Fitzpatrick fell from No. 1 in 2023 to No. 4 in 2024.

One personnel evaluator hit the nail on the head:

He was playing closer to the line of scrimmage this year — not sure why, maybe they needed his leadership and instincts up there, but it hurt his bottom line.

The hope is that with additions the Steelers made on defense, especially linebacker Patrick Queen, Fitzpatrick can go back to what makes him elite. The coaches did acknowledge it this offseason so this should help them focus their defense on the things their best players do well.

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3 Steelers make CBS Sports Top 100 players of 2024

T.J. Watt cracks the Top 5 of Peter Prisco’s Top 100 players.

One of the most outspoken NFL pundits is CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco. He’s never been shy about going against the grain when it comes to his Top 100 players list he does every year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers got three players on this year’s list starting off with outside linebacker T.J. Watt who checks in at No. 5. This is up from No. 11 last year. Here’s what Prisco said about his ranking of Watt:

He led the NFL in sacks with 19 last season and remains a true game-wrecker. He bounced back from an injury-shortened 2022 to show he remains one of the game’s best edge players.

Next on the list is wide receiver George Pickens at No. 68. This is Pickens debut on this list and rightfully so. Even with abysmal quarterback play in 2023, Pickens led the NFL in yards per catch and finished with 1,140 yards. With better quarterback play, the sky is the limit for Pickens.

Finally, the Steelers got safety Minkah Fitzpatrick at No. 71. This is way down from No. 41 last season. Fitzpatrick got caught up in a bad scheme last system where he was playing out of position for much of the year.

Edge defender Alex Highsmith, linebacker Patrick Queen and defensive tackle Cam Heyward all missed the cut for the Top 100 but were all listed as honorable mentions.

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Minkah Fitzpatrick no longer the top-ranked safety in NFL

Former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is one of the best in the NFL, but is no longer No. 1 in the league.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide football safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a star in the NFL since he was drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft by the Miami Dolphins. His talents were only put on full display for the nation to marvel at after he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.

For a while, Fitzpatrick’s abilities led many fans and experts to praise him as the top safety, and overall defensive back, in the entire league.

A recent ranking of the best safeties in the NFL ahead of the 2024 season has him ranked No. 3, with two highly-respected players listed above him.

The ranking, done by Jared Dubin of CBS Sports has Kyle Hamilton of the Baltimore Ravens and Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 2 and No. 1, respectively. As for Fitzpatrick, Dubin points to time missed in 2023 for the reason he has fallen in the rankings.

“This next group is on a different level than most other safeties. Even with Fitzpatrick missing some time last year, he still found a way to make an impact at all three levels of the defense. After beginning his career as a corner, he still has some of the best coverage abilities of any safety, and he is a turnover-forcing machine both deep down the field and close to the line of scrimmage.”

Fitzpatrick and the Steelers are preparing for the upcoming regular season, which is set to begin in just over a month. Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow former Alabama players in the NFL, as well as all things Alabama football news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Trading a 1st-round pick almost unheard of for Steelers

The Steelers have only traded their first-round pick once since 1970.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers do figure out a way to make a trade for an elite wide receiver, it is likely going to cost them at least one first-round pick in the NFL draft. Wide receivers are a premium position in the NFL right now with those at the top basically able to write their own checks.

Could the cost of the trade be the only thing holding the Steelers back? Going back to 1970, the Steelers have only traded a first-round pick one time.

That was in 2019 when the team traded their first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft to the Miami Dolphins for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. This was a rare in-season trade.

The Steelers traded away wide receiver Diontae Johnson at the start of free agency leaving George Pickens as the only starting receiver left on the roster. Unless Pittsburgh pulls off a big trade, veteran Van Jefferson might be the best option Pittsburgh has to start on offense.

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Steelers owe it to Minkah Fitzpatrick to get his game on track

The Steelers have put some excellent pieces in place to help Minkah Fitzpatrick.

If you look at the career of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, it is a series of highs and lows. When Fitzpatrick is able to play his style of football, he’s as good as any defensive back in the NFL. But when he’s forced into playing a box safety, he is all but forgotten by the NFL.

Earlier in the offseason, Fitzpatrick said he just wanted to get back to playing “Minkah Ball” and the Steelers have responded.

The reason Fitzpatrick got forced out of his role as a turnover machine so much over the last three seasons has been a lack of run defense in the front seven. When those guys don’t make plays on early downs, Fitzpatrick is forced into duty and while he answers the call, it is not the best use of his elite skills.

Fitzpatrick had zero interceptions in 2023 after leading the league with six the season before. To help get Fitzpatrick back on track the Steelers signed inside linebacker Patrick Queen to man the middle along with veteran strong safety DeShon Elliott. You add in the healthy return of Elandon Roberts and rookie linebacker Payton Wilson, Fitzpatrick should be able to get back to doing what he does best.

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Steelers DC Teryl Austin needs to be on the hot seat this season

The Steelers defense has underachieved in recent years despite being the most expensive in the NFL.

During the Pittsburgh Steelers current playoff win drought, fingers have been pointed squarely at head coach Mike Tomlin and former offense coordinator Matt Canada. And rightfully so. But we cannot, in good conscience just ignore the fact that there might not be a coordinator in the league who does less with more like Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.

The Steelers boast the most expensive defense in the NFL with the team’s top four cap hits all coming on that side of the football. Edge defender T.J. Watt, defensive tackle Cam Heyward and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick combine for a whopping $74.2 million against a salary cap of just north of $216 million.

Despite all this, the Steelers defense has been just as inconsistent as the offense in recent seasons. The same criticisms of slow starts, inconsistent effort and lapses in concentration and communication have plagued this group.

The Steelers have gone to great lengths this offseason to rebuild the offense while still adding some huge pieces on defense including linebacker Patrick Queen and cornerback Donte Jackson. At some point, if this unit continues to underachieve, Austin will have to be held accountable for those failures.

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Steelers land elite safety in new 2025 NFL mock draft

Steelers land elite safety in new 2025 NFL mock draft

It is never too soon to start thinking about the 2025 NFL draft. Our friends over at Touchdown Wire agree. They have a new one-round mock draft out and you know we had to give it a look. They have the Pittsburgh Steelers picking No. 14 overall which falls in line with what most mock drafts are going at this point. No one is sure what is going to happen with this new-look Steelers offense.

For the pick, TD Wire opted for Georgia safety Malaki Starks. Here’s what they had to say about the pick:

The Steelers already have one great multi-position safety in Minkah Fitzpatrick, but you can never have too many of those types of players in your defense. So, as Mike Tomlin’s team looks to rebuild its secondary with Fitzpatrick and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. as the tentpoles, let’s give them Georgia safety Malaki Starks. Last season, Starks gave up 18 catches on 35 targets for 200 yards, 86 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 61.6. Moreover, Starks did his thing everywhere from free to box to slot, which is what you find from more and more collegiate safeties these days.

Starks is an amazing player with his strength in coverage being a huge bonus for the Steelers. There are a couple of spots right now where the Steelers could eye a playmaker in the first round and free safety is definitely one of them. Looking at this mock, the only other name I might want more who went after Starks is Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter who went one pick later.

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Alabama extends offer to Justice Fitzpatrick, the younger brother Minkah Fitzpatrick

The Alabama coaching staff extended an offer to 2026 cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick on Tuesday. He is the younger brother of former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

On Tuesday, the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff extended an offer to 2026 cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick. He is the younger brother of former Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

If Justice were to commit to Alabama, he would play under a different coaching staff than his older brother. Instead of playing under Nick Saban, Justice would play under new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. This would mark the first time that a set of brothers both attended Alabama and played for two different coaches.

Fitzpatrick plays for St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. During his sophomore season, he recorded 13 tackles and two interceptions in six games.

The Alabama coaching staff has begun to evaluate prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. Fitzpatrick has already become a priority target for the Crimson Tide. His first visit of the summer will be to Alabama. That could be a very positive sign for Alabama moving forward in his recruitment.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama football program and its efforts on the recruiting trail.

PFF’s safety rankings: Does Derwin James crack the top five?

Derwin James is coming off a down year, but he is still one of the best to play the position.

Derwin James has proven to be one of the best to play the safety position. But where does he stack up among his peers?

Pro Football Focus released their safety rankings and recognized James as the No. 7 player at his position.

While the talent is obviously there, James couldn’t put it all together last season, which prevents him from being mentioned here in the top tier of safeties.

The Chargers safety topped 1,000 snaps for the first time since 2018 despite missing one game. But while he ranked third among safeties in PFF overall grade (90.4) between 2018 and 2022, his 60.1 grade in 2023 was good for just 71st at the position.

James finished the 2023 season with 125 tackles, seven passes defensed, two sacks and one interception across 16 games.

James made his most appearances since his 2018 rookie campaign, but he wasn’t quite the same playmaker as he had in seasons prior when he earned back-to-back Pro Bowl nods.

Despite the down year, James is still a dynamic player with the ability to cover, play the run and blitz. Rather than moving him all over the field, Jesse Minter plans to put him in positions to best utilize his skills in hopes of getting him back on track.

NFL Network calls new Steelers safety most underappreciated player on the team

The Steelers quitely added safety DeShon Elliott in free agency.

When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, there are a handful of guys on either side of the football who get all the praise heaped on them. Defensively, we hear about T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Patrick Queen, Joey Porter Jr. and Minkah Fitzpatrick all the time. But who is the most underappreciated guy on the Steelers defense?

NFL Network named the most underappreciated player on every roster and for the Steelers he went with new safety DeShon Elliott. Here’s what he had to say about Elliott:

Now on a fourth team in Year 7 of his professional career, Elliott’s vagabond existence might lead some to question his reliability, but that’d be a mistake. While injuries did impact multiple seasons at Elliott’s first NFL stop in Baltimore, whenever the man played for the Ravens, he proved dependable. And over the past two seasons, he capably started 13 games for the Lions and 15 games for the Dolphins, providing the kind of rock-solid returns at defensive back that should never be overlooked in today’s pass-happy league. Elliott’s ability to seamlessly transition between teams and schemes is a testament to his versatility. Boasting ample experience as a free safety, strong safety and nickelback…

Elliott was definitely an underrated addition in a very bus[lawrence-auto-related count=3]y offseason. His health will be the most important factor for his ability to impact the defense this season. This is even assuming Elliott can beat out incumbent Damontae Kazee for the starting spot at strong safety.