The Pittsburgh Steelers defense runs through its star players on all three levels. Part of the problem last year is they only got star execution from one level. Both DL Cameron Heyward and S Minkah Fitzpatrick missed significant time due to injury and then returned to play hurt.
Just a year after sharing the league lead in interceptions, for example, Fitzpatrick failed to record a single turnover. He recorded at least two interceptions in every other year of his career, not unlike his new teammate, Donte Jackson. He somehow still made the Pro Bowl—on name recognition— but he didn’t have a Minkah-like season. Does head coach Mike Tomlin feel something needs to change to return him to his game?
“I don’t”, he said yesterday at the annual league meetings, via the team’s website. “To me it’s about availability. If he’s available, he’s gonna be Mink”.
The Steelers acquired Fitzpatrick in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2019, just 18 games into his career. He’s made the first-team All-Pro list three times and the Pro Bowl four times in his five seasons.
Between 2019 and 2022, Fitzpatrick recorded 17 interceptions, among the most in the NFL during that span. Pretty much the only things he hasn’t done yet in his career are record a sack or a safety, nearly universally recognized as one of the top defensive backs in football.
Yet one can argue Fitzpatrick didn’t really look like it even before his injuries last season. He played fully healthy for the first six weeks, and while he accumulated tackles, he didn’t make a big impact. In Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he went down with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for four weeks.
While he returned in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals, he quickly injured his hand, but he played through it. Then in Week 15, he suffered a friendly fire knee injury, a result of Patrick Peterson falling on him. He missed the final three games of the regular season but returned to play in the Wild Card loss.
In all, Fitzpatrick finished the season with 64 tackles, including one for loss, and three passes defensed. He recorded no interceptions, no forced fumbles, no fumble recoveries, and no sacks, by far his least impactful season.
Tomlin, however, is confident it’s merely a matter of health. Playing for the first time in Pittsburgh without Terrell Edmunds last season didn’t help either, perhaps. They replaced him with a combination of Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal, but now Neal is gone. The Steelers signed DeShon Elliott as a free agent this offseason, but we must see what their full-time plans are. He is the best candidate to pair with Fitzpatrick as his strong safety, at least on paper.
