Minkah Fitzpatrick – stock: up
Minkah Fitzpatrick is good at football, and that is not debatable. The Steelers made a bold move giving up a first-round pick in April’s draft not long after finding out Ben Roethlisberger was out for the year.
Fitzpatrick is doing his best to give them the return they expected when getting him from Miami. So far, his best effort is giving them even more than they expected.
In just six games in Pittsburgh, he has tallied four interceptions, six passes defended, a forced fumble and a defensive touchdown for the team. He has been a difference-maker in this defense, and his impact is undeniable.
The Steelers have not had a safety with the ability to play center field as well as Minkah since they had the flowing locks of Troy Polamalu flying around the field. Now, this is not to say Fitzpatrick is as good as Polamalu, but he is playing very well thus far and turns just 23 in a few days.
His presence has no doubt helped his running mate, Terrell Edmunds, as well as the rest of his secondary teammates. He gives them confidence that there is someone over the top that can be trusted to play solid help defense.
The Steelers did a great job making this move to infuse more speed, youth, and athleticism into this rebuilt defense. It gave them a great mix of veteran leaders and young athletic defenders.
Pittsburgh sits at 4-4 with the Rams coming to town next week before three straight AFC north games, including Cleveland, twice in the next four games. They have put themselves in a good spot to hover at or above .500 in that stretch and have been impressive and fun to watch throughout that process after all the injuries and adversity thrown their way.