Minkah Fitzpatrick hasn’t exactly played his best football in 2020. Here’s why Pittsburgh Steelers fans have a right to be worried.
Last year, Minkah Fitzpatrick was undoubtedly one of the best safeties in the National Football League. After struggling in his first two games with the Miami Dolphins in 2019, the former first-round draft choice was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to their Week three matchup against the 49ers.
The rest of his 2019 season couldn’t have been scripted any better. He completely turned his game around since leaving Miami and was now considered to be a top-three player in a Steelers uniform and one of the best young safeties in the league.
Minkah was a nightmare in the middle of the field for opposing offenses, as evidenced by his 8 takeaways last season. In addition, he was a threat once he got the ball in his hands – cashing in on two defensive scores last year.
Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick doesn’t look like the same player early in the 2020 season. Though we are only three games in, the first-team All-Pro safety from 2019 hasn’t done any of the things that helped him earn a reputation as one of the best up-and-coming defensive players in the league. In fact, we could go as far as to say that Minkah Fitzpatrick has been quite disappointing thus far in the early going.
While this is something that we’ve been accustomed to seeing from fellow safety, Terrell Edmunds, in the first few seasons of his career, we expected Minkah to continue to dominate the back end. Though, he’s still very young and obviously has loads of time to turn things around, here are four reasons why Steelers fans should be somewhat worried about Minkah Fitzpatrick moving forward:
Fitzpatrick has graded out poorly
It’s been a rough start for Fitzpatrick early in the 2020 season. Some NFL analysts had discussions this offseason about whether or not Minkah was the best defender on the Steelers. After seeing T.J. Watt dominate on nearly every play and Fitzpatrick fall short too often, those arguments should quickly be put to rest.
In just the first three games, Fitzpatrick has allowed 4 of 6 receptions to be completed for 42 yards and an 86.8 passer rating. While this is respectable, it’s a far cry from his 46.3 passer rating allowed last year, and he hasn’t earned as much as one pass defense in the early going.
As a result, Fitzpatrick has graded out as just the 59th ranked safety out of 78 qualifying players in 2020 through three weeks, according to Pro Football Focus. His 51.2 overall grade is the lowest of his career so far, and put’s him just slightly above fellow Steelers safety, Terrell Edmunds (48.6 grade).
A three-game sample size isn’t the most trustworthy source of data, but he certainly hasn’t looked like a Pro Bowl player early in the season. Let’s hope he turns it around soon.
There have been no splash plays from the All-Pro so far
One of the most disappointing aspects of Fitzpatrick’s game in 2020 is that there have been zero splash plays so far. While we clearly cannot rely on him to take the ball away once per contest, Fitzpatrick hasn’t even been close to getting his hands on the football yet.
This isn’t just interceptions, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries, it’s pass defenses too. Last year, Minakah successfully defended passes thrown his way 9 times in addition to earning 5 interceptions. In fact, he had more combined pass defenses and takeaways than receptions allowed last year (13).
The 2020 season is trending in a very different direction for Fitzpatrick. Though he’s given up 42 yards, Minkah oftentimes can’t even be found in the vicinity of the ball. As a result, he hasn’t come close to being that enforcer the Steelers need in the back end. If Minkah doesn’t start making plays on the football very soon, he can kiss any chances of being an All-Pro player in 2020 goodbye. When you play the safety position, it’s crucial to create takeaways.
The Steelers secondary has been the weakest spot on their team
In 2019, the Steelers secondary looked as good as it did in the early 2000s. Steven Nelson and Joe Haden were playing above-average while Mike Hilton was a difference-maker at nickel cornerback. However, Minkah Fitzpatrick was by far their most important piece in the secondary.
On any given game last year, you could run back the tape and see that Minkah was the engine that made that secondary run. This year, you probably wouldn’t come away with the same conclusion.
Despite earning the league’s 3rd best pass defense last season, Pittsburgh currently sits at 12th in the league in passing yards surrendered, 31st in passing first down percentage, and 13th in yards per pass attempt, according to Team Rankings. All of this despite having a front seven that has been utterly dominant at both getting pressure and shutting down the run this season.
With a solid core of player in the secondary, Minkah was expected to headline this list, but he hasn’t done much to even set himself apart from Edmunds at this point. This secondary needs to become a strength again soon, and it needs to start with Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick has been nonexistent most of the time
I hate to have to say this, but it’s true: Minkah Fitzpatrick has been nonexistent for the most part this season. This is something we wouldn’t have dreamed of saying in 2019. It’s not just that he isn’t making plays on the ball, he’s rarely spotted or noticed on the field.
This is oftentimes a good thing when you are a defensive back, as some players who struggle in coverage (i.e. Terrell Edmunds) are more often targeted. However, Fitzpatrick has rarely shown up in any form. While he has been credited with 13 tackles over the first three games, they typically occur in the secondary after a receiver has caught the ball.
There are more than a handful of defensive players who have stood out in a big way so far for the Steelers this year, including T.J. Watt, Tyson Alualu, Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton, Stephon Tuitt, and Cameron Heyward, and Devin Bush. It’s just hard to believe that Fitzpatrick hasn’t been one of them.
I’m certainly not suggesting that Minkah won’t ever become the player we thought he was going to be or that his play and impact on this defense can’t turn around on a moment’s notice. However, I’d be lying if I said Fitzpatrick’s slow start to the 2020 season wasn’t at least a little bit concerning.