“Best in the game, and it’s not close.”
That’s how one NFL personnel director described Pittsburgh Steelers star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler Wednesday in ESPN’s positional rankings.
That comes as no surprise, considering Fitzpatrick is coming off of yet another All-Pro and Pro Bowl season in the Black and Gold, tying for the league lead in interceptions.
Fitzpatrick, entering his age-27 season, finished with 96 tackles, six interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 2022, earning first-team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl berth, along with finished 10th in the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Now, he’s the top safety in the NFL, according to Fowler’s ESPN survey based on responses from league executives, coaches, scouts and players.
“Best in the game, and it’s not close,” an NFL personnel director said to Fowler. “You have to keep him moving because if he’s stationary, coordinators can plan for him, but every single play, there’s that feeling of, where is he going to be? Post, slot, nickel, box. He’s capable, willing and able to handle all of that. He’s brilliant, works, studies, loves the game.”
Since coming over to the Steelers from the Miami Dolphins in a 2019 trade, Fitzpatrick has transformed the back half of the Steelers’ defense under head coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinators Keith Butler and Teryl Austin.
His IQ is already one of his strengths, but it’s something that he’s emphasized building on to make his game even better. His ball skills are among the best in the NFL, leading the league in interceptions last season and he’s had at least two every season he’s been in Pittsburgh.
His six picks in 2022 made him the first Steeler to accomplish that since Mel Blount all the way back in 1975. Fitzpatrick’s picks were timely too, two coming late in the fourth quarter to close out wins over the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens, propelling the Steelers to a 7-2 stretch run that nearly saw them make the playoffs. In fact, Fitzpatrick was the only player in the NFL last season with two interceptions in the final two minutes of games.
Fitzpatrick can do it all. He’s not just a pure coverage safety, he’s very strong in run support, too. He led the Steelers with 124 tackles in 2021, a year in which it was a necessity for him to make plays due to a porous run defense. While being the team’s leading tackler isn’t something that should ever happen again, it goes to show Fitzpatrick’s multi-faceted abilities and versatility as he can drop back in coverage or come up and make plays in the box.
Fitzpatrick is only going to get better. He’s still young – he turns 27 in November — and signed a long-term contract last offseason to keep him in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.
With Fitzpatrick patrolling the secondary, he’s become the point man of the Steelers’ defense as a coverage expert, one that can do anything asked of him in the secondary. He’s far and away the best safety in the NFL, and he’s consistently shown that with the Black and Gold over the last four seasons.
He returns to his rightful spot atop the ESPN survey at the safety position after ranking No. 2 last season. Fitzpatrick was as low as No. 5 at the position in some responses but was largely No. 1 overall in the survey from most responders.
