Five Burning Questions for Week Three Versus the 49ers
By Edward Hunt
How will Minkah do in his Steelers debut?
The Steelers acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick this week, and he will be asked to step in at free safety right away. Minkah Fitzpatrick is a top 11 pick in 2018 and a safety who can cover the deep zone and in the slot.
The problem is that Fitzpatrick has not played in the defense yet and he only has had the playbook for less than a week. My biggest concern is whether he will be in the right place this week against the 49ers. I have no worries about the player he can be in this defense in the long-term, but my questions come in the short-term.
The good news is that most of the NFL does the same things on defense; they just call it different things. I don’t worry about him learning the concepts, especially having played for Nick Saban in college.
I do worry about him getting the Steelers verbiage down. This will be important in a position like free safety where you are asked to do a lot of different things, and instincts are essential.