Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: S Minkah Fitzpatrick
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The All-Pro safety is on track to return after missing the past four games with a hamstring injury. He has been listed as a full practice participant in each of the past two days, and barring an unexpected setback today, the expectation is that he will be back in the starting lineup on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Steelers are 5-1 in games that Minkah Fitzpatrick has missed over the course of the past two seasons, but don’t go stomping your feet in disappointment over his return just yet. The odds are they will still be a better team with him in the lineup. Crazy theory, I know. The Steelers are hoping they can play better finally having their three defensive All-Pros back on the field at the same time, the first since the season opener.
The sixth-year veteran has been sidelined for the past four weeks after suffering a hamstring injury early in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. While the team elected not to place him on the Reserve/Injured List, he was never able (or permitted) to return to the practice field during that time.
After four weeks, however, it looks as though he is ready to get back underway. He has been listed as a full participant in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday and the expectation is that he will play on Sunday, barring a setback today.
The Steelers have ridden with Trenton Thompson at safety for the past two games with Keanu Neal also injured. The first-year defender has largely risen to the challenge and even made a key interception for the defense this past week.
The development of depth in Fitzpatrick’s absence certainly isn’t a bad thing, but they will obviously be welcoming him back into the fold with great eagerness. They know what kind of impact he can have on a game, even when the stats might not show it.
Through the first six-plus games, Fitzpatrick failed to record an interception after leading the NFL with six a year earlier. He only has two passes defensed. But he’d been a staple of the defense, at the time of his injury leading the team with 54 tackles and on a pace to break his career-high mark of 124.
One hopes that with the progress of the unit the past four games, the Steelers can place him in more opportune positions to make the sort of game-changing plays he’s been known for. But first we’ll see if he comes back on any kind of pitch count.
