I wanted to look at how Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick fared in over-the-middle coverage last season. It’s an interesting topic, with several fans feeling that his performance has tailed off due to a lack of baseline interception production compared to earlier in his career.
The goal of this article is to see if more advanced metrics support or debunk that thought when Fitzpatrick is over the middle in coverage. Let’s start with over-the-middle coverage snaps and targets:
Right away, we see that Fitzpatrick had one of the highest snap counts in over the middle coverage. Those 82 snaps were second-most among qualifiers (81 players, 50 or more over the middle coverage snaps). So, the volume was certainly there. We also see that quarterbacks avoided him overall with only five over-the-middle targets.
This gives specific stat context to a huge value Fitzpatrick brings, erasing areas of the field that makes life on opposing passing offenses more difficult. It doesn’t show up in the box score, but major props are deserving and refreshing to have on the back end of the defense.
Now, let’s look at a visual of over-the-middle completion rate and quarterback rating allowed:
Once again, we see that elements of Fitzpatrick’s coverage were elite compared to his peers. A 20-percent completion rate allowed tied for third-best, and an incredible 3.3 QB rating allowed ranked second.
Weighing this, along with the second most over-the-middle coverage snaps and just one completion allowed, should amplify the appreciation Fitzpatrick deserves. While his turnover production has lacked recently, with only one interception in 2024, it came over the middle of the field. He had a big fourth quarter red zone interception as the Steelers trailed the rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 16.
To boot, he added 25 return yards on that pick, along with an additional pass defensed. Also, no touchdowns allowed or dropped interceptions either, cashing in when he was in the position to make plays. This study really emphasizes the sentiment many of us have at Steelers Depot: Put respect on the name Minkah Fitzpatrick, like opposing passing offenses do.
