Recent NFL rankings view Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick very differently

Recently, Steeler’s safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has been viewed in a very different light. Here are some of the contrasting views on the All-Pro safety.

Minkah Fitzpatrick was undeniably terrific last season. After struggling for his first two games with the Miami Dolphins in 2019, the young safety was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers before Week 3 of the regular season. It was all uphill from there.

During his 14 games with the Steelers, Fitzpatrick allowed just 52 percent of passes to be completed when thrown in his direction, and his 46.3 passer rating allowed in coverage was nearly identical to Defensive Player of the Year, Stephon Gilmore (44.1). In addition, Minkah pitched in 10 turnover-worthy plays in 2019 (5 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries) while managing to score 2 defensive touchdowns.

But despite all of his success, there are ‘experts’ out there who have very different views of Minkah Fitzpatrick right now. Two of those views are from ESPN’s safety rankings and the latest Madden 21 ratings.

Recently, ESPN has been diving into the top 10 players at each position using a panel of 50 NFL coaches and executives as their guide. On Friday, they released their top 10 safety rankings. Fitzpatrick was 3rd on the list. While you could make the case that the 22-year-old safety could be as high as number one, this ranking from NFL personnel is still very respectable.

Madden rating developers, on the other hand, have a very different view of Fitzpatrick. Though he received an overall rating of 87 on Madden 21, he was ranked just the 11th-best safety in the league. Players like Micah Hyde, Earl Thomas, and Kevin Byard were all ranked higher.

Which rating should you trust for the Steelers safety?

This is a question that probably doesn’t even warrant a response, but I will give you the answer anyway. Though NFL coaches and executives sometimes have wild opinions, their thoughts on Minkah Fitzpatrick are vastly more reliable than Madden rating developers. They know what it is like to face Fitzpatrick and know the impact he made to the team last year.

On the other hand, Madden excluding Minkah from their top 10 safeties altogether was completely disrespectable. Just two safeties earn first-team All-Pro honors each year, and Minkah Fitzpatrick was one of them in 2019. Purely from a statistical standpoint, Fitzpatrick had more takeaways and defensive touchdowns last season than anyone year by 3-time All-Pro safety Earl Thomas in his decade-long career.

While takeaways by itself aren’t the best representation of how good a player truly is, it just goes to show how impressive Fitzpatrick’s 2019 season really was.

NFL personnel and Madden rating developers may have a widely different view of Minkah Fitzpatrick for the upcoming season, but what’s important is that we understand how good he currently is and the potential he has to be one of the best safeties in the league for quite some time. If Fitzpatrick can prove that 2019 was not just a fluke, there shouldn’t be an NFL expert out there who doesn’t agree where he should fall in safety rankings.