Just look at an overall box score and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick’s 2023 season might not look too impressive. A bunch of tackles but zero interceptions, a couple of breakups, and few high-impact plays. Despite a quiet statistical start to the season, Mike Tomlin isn’t concerned about Fitzpatrick one bit. To him, those plays will come.
Speaking with reporters during his Tuesday press conference, Tomlin said soon enough Fitzpatrick will be part of weekly highlight reels.
“Minkah’s gonna make his plays,” he said via the team’s YouTube channel. “There are blocks of games in the past maybe where T.J. [Watt] is not getting sacks. T.J.’s gonna get sacks. Minkah’s gonna make splash plays. That’s what All-Pros do.”
Fitzpatrick is coming off a career year, picking off six interceptions in 2022, tied for most in the NFL. He paired that with 11 pass breakups, tying his single-season best as he made his third All-Pro team at just 26 years old. This year has been quieter.
His usage has also been different, spending far more time near the line of scrimmage than roaming centerfield than before. According to our charting, Fitzpatrick has been in the box, defined as eight yards or close to the line of scrimmage between the tackles, 20.1 percent of the time this season. Last year, that number sat at a little over eight percent. In fairness, there have been game plans tailored to Fitzpatrick in a different role, specifically in Week Five shadowing Baltimore Ravens TE Mark Andrews on third down, but his overall usage has changed.
“We expect him to be playmaker no matter where we utilize him, to be quite honest with you. We’ve moved him around in the past as well,” Tomlin said when asked about that different usage.
Pittsburgh knows where Fitzpatrick is at his best and past usage doesn’t define future ones. Interceptions can be fluky and random, and Fitzpatrick has gone through droughts before. In 2019, he had just one interception over his first six games before recording four in his next three contests. In 2021, he didn’t pick off a pass until Week 12 before going back-to-back games with one. Teams also know not to throw around his airspace, and he hasn’t been targeted much this season, just 16 times according to our charting.
Sunday, Fitzpatrick will look to replicate stats from his only other game against the Rams. In 2019, he picked off a pass, broke up two more, and recovered a fumble for a touchdown in a Steelers 17-12 victory. His big plays will come. Hopefully just sooner than later.
