Since around the time of Chuck Noll’s arrival, the Pittsburgh Steelers more than any other team diligently protected their most valuable commodity: their first-round draft picks. Having gotten into the habit of flipping them for past-their-prime stars, Dan Rooney stepped in during the 1960s and put an end to that practice.
Half a century went by before they dealt another first-round draft pick, but this time it was certainly worth it. Giving up their 2020 first-round selection in September 2019 yielded them S Minkah Fitzpatrick, a three-time All-Pro as of the time of this writing.
Even in the midst of a terrible season—the Steelers had just learned that they lost QB Ben Roethlisberger for the rest of the year—Fitzpatrick made an immediate impact. Nevermind the fact that he intercepted a pass and forced a fumble just days after being acquired. He transformed the defense, a fact OLB T.J. Watt acutely recognizes.
“When you have a guy come in that demands a lot of attention and respect, it helps the unit as a whole”, he said on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, posted yesterday, while discussing the impact of the Fitzpatrick trade.
“When one guy is creating all those turnovers, you get that blood in the water and it makes everybody around him better and that much more hungry to make turnovers and make those plays”, he added. “That’s why I think we’ve all just been feeding off each other for these past four or five years”.
It’s not just about having players who have decent hands, however. It’s the tone that Fitzpatrick sets, the mentality, the leadership, the example that everybody else follows. He gets a pick and then everybody wants to feast. That’s why they have 37 games over the past four years with multiple takeaways, four more than anybody else in the NFL.
The former Alabama standout intercepted five passes and forced two fumbles during his first season with the Steelers in 14 games, scoring two touchdowns in the process. He’s recorded 17 interceptions and 38 passes defensed through 61 games with the Steelers, along with five forced fumbles.
The Steelers have consistently finished in the top half of turnover production since then, including first in 2019 and second in 2020. They led the NFL as a defense last season with 20 interceptions, Fitzpatrick himself accounting for a league-leading six. They do have to get back to recovering more fumbles over the past two years, however.
There’s no doubt that opportunism has become critical for the defense again, as it once was when they were at their best in the mid- to late-2000s. They believe that they have a defensive backfield capable of turning the ball over now.
Though Cameron Sutton is gone, CB Patrick Peterson intercepted five passes a year ago with the Minnesota Vikings. Levi Wallace had a career-high four in his first season with the Steelers in 2022. Though he did not have the college productivity, rookie Joey Porter Jr. has shown good hands throughout his rookie offseason. And with 14 interceptions in his career, Damontae Kazee is no slouch, either.
