The defense that the Pittsburgh Steelers fielded last year was already a good one, at least when they were relatively healthy, but could they be better this year? They should on paper, at least they’d like to think, but there’s a key variable in play that must go their way—they have to get all the moving pieces working together as one.
That’s not an obstacle first-team All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is about to overlook, perhaps especially given the fact that he has to adjust to working with a new strong safety this year with Terrell Edmunds gone. He told reporters that there is a lot of work in front of them to get all the new components of the defense functioning harmoniously.
“There’s a lot we’ve got to learn”, he told reporters on check-in day at training camp yesterday, via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think we had a really good offseason, OTAs, but we didn’t have pads on, we weren’t hitting, we weren’t going full throttle, playing real football. Now we get to play real football and just get to learn how we move, how we operate, and who’s about what”.
Fitzpatrick isn’t typically one to mince words. Unlike head coach Mike Tomlin, he’s not about to pretend that everything falls into place on its own. The defense may have up to six new starters this year in addition to other contributors new to the team and playing a big role. Putting that all together in one offseason is a lot of work.
Gone from the secondary are Cameron Sutton and Arthur Maulet in addition to Edmunds. Damontae Kazee returns from last season, but the new faces include Patrick Peterson, Keanu Neal, and Joey Porter Jr. The entire inside linebacker room short of Mark Robinson is gone, replaced by Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts at the top. Montravius Adams could also be swapped out at nose tackle in favor of Keeanu Benton, or possibly Breiden Fehoko.
“It’s just establishing ourselves during camp”, Fitzpatrick said of their defensive priority. “There’s a lot of new faces, a lot of new pieces. There’s a lot that we have to learn about yourselves, so our main focus right now is just taking it one day at a time figuring out who we’re gonna be as a defense”.
The thing is, a player like Fitzpatrick needs a fine-tuned defense in order to function at his highest level. He needs to be able to trust that everybody else is doing what they’re supposed to be doing and to know that he has their trust he is making the plays that he thinks is right.
He went on record numerous times advocating for the Steelers to retain Edmunds, through his fifth-year option decision, his re-signing on a bargain deal last year, and even going into free agency this year, during which he finally left. While he’ll get familiar with Kazee and Neal, that’s a lot of on-field muscle memory to lose.
