The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked many throughout the NFL world in 2019 when they traded a first-round draft pick for versatile safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick. It was a great move by former general manager, Kevin Colbert as Fitzpatrick had nine interceptions, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and two touchdowns in his first two seasons with the team. Steelers fans saw a dip in his statistical production in 2021, but what many don't realize is that it had nothing to do with his talents and playmaking abilities.
Pittsburgh Steelers safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick (#39) participates during 2022 training camp at the team's South Side facility. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
The Steelers defensive coaching staff had no choice last year but to have one of the best players on the roster play a different style of football than he was used to. The defensive line was banged up and the run defense was horrible. This led to Fitzpatrick playing up on the line of scrimmage much more often than the prior two years. His mindset was more focused on stopping opponents' rushing attacks and being more of a facilitator.
He only had two interceptions and a career-high 124 tackles. It would be beneficial to see him back in his natural position and according to The Athletic's Mark Kaboly, that is expected to be the case even with the injuries to Karl Joseph and Damontae Kazee. The Steelers were using three safeties in practice and during some preseason games, placing Kazee on the field with Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds.
Kaboly quoted first-year defensive coordinator, Teryl Austin and the defensive play-caller seemed set on potentially using three safeties regularly, despite the potential of Kazee heading to injured reserve any day now.
“We’re going to do what we have to do,” Austin said. “We know it’s the next-man-up principle here. And so we’ll find somebody else to fill that job. However we do it. It might be with another safety, it might be with another body; it might be a corner. I don’t know how we’ll do it, but we’ll fill that role, and we’ll fill that stuff we need to get it done with someone else.”
According to Kaboly's reporting, Austin is very confident in the group that he has. He believes that there are multiple guys who can step in and fill Kazee's role until he is eligible to return after Week 4, if he does indeed head to IR.
“We’ve got a bunch of versatile chess pieces in the secondary that allow us to do a lot of things and bring different skill sets,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “Kazee was doing some really good things, but we have a lot of guys that are displaying versatility down in and down out in the back end.”
Credit: Steelers.com
Austin admitted that having Kazee on the field and playing well allowed for Fitzpatrick to be more of a game-changing player. However, it wasn't designed because of the star safety, but rather getting his backup snaps because of his talent.
“I think it wasn’t a desire to get Minkah to ball hunt. It was a desire to get a really good football player on the field,” Austin said. “I think Kazee is a good football player. And that’s really what it was, to try to get your best players and put them in a position to make some good plays. The bonus of that was it freed Minkah up a little bit more."
Fitzpatrick is looking to get back to his playmaking self in 2022 after being voted a First Team All-Pro in 2019 and 2020. If the Steelers can figure out someone to plug in while Kazee is absent, the recently extended starting safety has a legitimate shot to put up career numbers in 2022 season.
Do you think Fitzpatrick will be back to his original role this season as Kaboly reported? Let us know in the comments below!
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