The Steelers are at a crossroads in the 2019 season

At a crossroads, a bold trade will define the Steelers defense in 2019 or will it?

Something the Steelers haven’t done for more than a generation, we shipped our first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Minkah Fitzpatrick, a first-round pick in the 2018 draft. There was additional compensation obtained and swapped as part of the trade, but, for purposes of this discussion, let’s focus on the 2020 first-round pick.

This trade was a BOLD move by the Steelers, a move that may define the season.  With Sean Davis being placed on injured reserve, there was an obvious and, perhaps, a desperate need at the free safety position.

The crossroads here is will the defense improve with the addition of Fitzpatrick or will it continue to underperform.  Mentioned earlier, the defense is ranked 29th or 4th worst in the NFL through two weeks.

To some, I’m sure the trade for Fitzpatrick seems like a move made out of desperation, but the reality is the depth at safety for the Steelers without Fitzpatrick was woeful.  It would have been tantamount to corporate malfeasance had the Steelers not done anything to address the free safety position.

Obviously, there is no guarantee Fitzpatrick will have a considerable impact on the defense, but the organization almost HAD  to do something uncharacteristic to let Steelers fans know that, despite losing Ben for the season, we are not waving the white flag.

While I don’t think the addition of one player will make the defense markedly better, I do believe the addition of one player can breath new life into a defense that, quite frankly, looks like it’s playing with very little confidence.

Perhaps that new life will have a trickle effect that will permeate the rest of the defense.  From that aspect, the trade for Fitzpatrick may very well define the season, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

Let’s explore the crossroads at which Coach Tomlin finds himself.