With five first-place votes, Pittsburgh Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick was named the top safety in the league by the Associated Press. A panel of nine AP Pro Football Writers ranked the top-five players at safety, with Fitzpatrick edging out the Los Angeles Chargers’ Derwin James for the top spot.
“Fitzpatrick has been a first-team All-Pro in three of the past four seasons. He has 17 interceptions and four fumble recoveries in 61 games for the Steelers after having three in 18 games with Miami. He is tied for the most takeaways for any safety in the NFL the past four seasons,” the AP wrote.
James, Justin Simmons of the Denver Broncos, Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans and Budda Baker of the Arizona Cardinals rounded out the top five.
Fitzpatrick is one of the best playmakers in the league, and his arrival in Pittsburgh during the 2019 season immediately catapulted the secondary and helped complete the Steelers defense. Pittsburgh hadn’t had a true playmaker at safety since Troy Polamalu’s retirement following the 2014 season, but Fitzpatrick provided an immediate spark with five interceptions in 14 games for the Black and Gold.
Fitzpatrick has tallied 17 interceptions during his time in Pittsburgh and was a first-team All-Pro every season except for 2021, when he was forced to become more of a presence in the run game thanks to Pittsburgh’s porous run defense. He tallied a career-high 121 tackles in ‘21, but last year got back to his ball-hawking self with a career-high six interceptions.
The Steelers rewarded Fitzpatrick with a contract that made him one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL before last season, and he’s going to continue to be a key piece to their defense for years to come. While he lost his safety partner in Terrell Edmunds, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, Fitzpatrick should team up with Damontae Kazee to provide a safety unit that’s a threat to pick the ball off whenever one of them is in the vicinity.
The trade for Fitzpatrick in 2019, which was maligned by some at the time due to Pittsburgh giving up a first-round pick after losing QB Ben Roethlisberger for the season, will end up looking like one of the better ones in NFL history.
It was a master stroke by then-general manager Kevin Colbert, addressing one of Pittsburgh’s biggest needs by bringing in a young, highly touted player unhappy with his situation with the Miami Dolphins and someone who’s been a stud every season he’s been in Pittsburgh. It won’t be a surprise to see Fitzpatrick’s name at the top of this list by the AP for years to come.
