Like T.J. Watt in 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick probably didn’t “earn” his Pro Bowl last year. Not only did he miss seven games, but he played a fairly pedestrian game by his standards. I should note that some things were out of his control, including how the team used him. The lowlight of his stat line was his zero interceptions, having shared the league lead just a year prior. Either way, 2023 was clearly his worst season in Pittsburgh by a good margin, particularly through time lost due to injury. And head coach Mike Tomlin knows that just based on how the defense functioned without him.
“For me, the centerpiece is Minkah”, Tomlin told Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller on SiriusXM’s Movin’ the Chains about Fitzpatrick. “When Mink was available to us, we were on pretty good footing. Not only is he a great player, but he is a hub of communication. Any challenges that we had last year probably could be traced back to time missed by him”.
The Steelers acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick, a 2018 first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins, via trade two games into 2019. Since then, he has been a part of the team’s heart and soul on and off the field. The defense needs Fitzpatrick at his best for it to thrive this season.
That will be especially true this year, more than most years, because the secondary looks so different now. Fitzpatrick is the only one who will be out there nearly every snap who has more than one year of experience in the system. Joey Porter Jr. is going into his second season, and both Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliot are new additions.
Whoever plays in the slot for at least the first eight games will be another new addition, possibly a rookie. With so much change, communication and players like Minkah Fitzpatrick are extremely important. But Tomlin remains confident in what the group is doing now and where it’s headed.
“We’ll do a really good job of integrating some of the others”, he said about the overall look of the secondary. “They’re new to us, but they’re not new to professional football. We know D-Jack [Donte Jackosn]. We know [DeShon] Elliott. They’re both capable NFL starters and have been for a number of years. It’s about language and comfortability and communication, and I like the direction of that process”.
Tomlin particularly talked about Porter, their budding star at the position. He said that they are watching him very closely this year because they expect big things from him. And they’ll very much have to get big things from him, as well.
As for Minkah Fitzpatrick, if he stays healthy, which he should, there’s no reason to think he won’t be elite. He has been for most of his career, and the secondary is in a better spot now than it was. Porter is an entrenched starter now, and Jackson should offer more reliable play. Elliott also promises to offer more stability than the Kazee/Neal duo of last season.
None of that, however, changes the fact that the secondary runs through Fitzpatrick.
