The Pittsburgh Steelers spent the 2023 season mixing and matching on defense to try and field a squad that could help the floundering offense compete against NFL teams. Injuries decimated the Steelers' linebacker room, and while Joey Porter Jr. ended up being a bright spot, Patrick Peterson was the opposite. As a result, Minkah Fitzpatrick, one of the best safeties in the league, was reduced to playing a mundane, more rigid style to make up for injuries and deficiencies.
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Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (#39) participates during the Pittsburgh Steelers' 2022 training camp at the team's South Side facility.
Ahead of Pittsburgh's 2024 season, all eyes will be on the defense again to carry the load as the offense finds its footing. A big plus to that will be getting Fitzpatrick back to the game-breaking kind of football that turned him into a first-round pick for the Miami Dolphins. On Wednesday, Pittsburgh's Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin talked about the plan for Fitzpatrick in 2024, and all signs are pointing to the Pro Bowl defender getting back to being his brilliant, playmaking self.
"[Minkah Fitzpatrick] is at his best when he's playing back a little bit deeper, seeing things and able to react/see the game because he sees it really fast, so my job is to keep him back there as much as possible."
From the moment Fitzpatrick joined the Steelers in a huge in-season trade with the Dolphins at the start of the 2019 season, the safety has literally hit the ground running and has solidified himself as a star on the Steelers' defense. What allows Fitzpatrick the freedom to play the way he does, though, is being able to lurk and roam throughout the secondary. A desperate need for help closer to the line of scrimmage robbed Fitzpatrick of what truly set him apart from the rest of the safeties in the NFL, something Austin is eager to get back to in 2024.
After the Steelers set out to bring some stability back to the linebackers' position group during the 2023 offseason, it seemed like a collection of reliable, playmaking defenders. However, injuries took out Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander for the year in back-to-back weeks. Elandon Roberts, another 2023 acquisition to bolster the middle of the defense, did an incredible job filling the empty spaces; he did so while battling his own slew of injuries.
With a new offense being rolled out by Arthur Smith that will include a quarterback competition between two players who were on different teams in 2023, the defense will be needed once again to steady the ship. Mike Tomlin navigated his injured, limping team to a Wild Card berth in 2023, which means the expectations are all the higher heading into 2024. If Fitzpatrick can slide back into his game-wrecking position and the Steelers' Smith-led offense proves to be even a little better than Matt Canada and Kenny Pickett were, 2024 should be everything Steelers fans believed 2023 was going to be.
Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune / TNS
Head Coach Mike Tomlin and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick celebrate on the sidelines during a Pittsburgh Steelers game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
Steelers' Teryl Austin Admits His Error
Necessity can dictate how things go in the NFL, especially when injuries take the choice out of the hands of the coaches. During the 2023 campaign, Pittsburgh watched as their offseason investments spent more time on the sidelines and in the training room than they did on the football field. Fitzpatrick ended up being a temporary solution, filling in for the players who were relied on to stuff the run or play against slot receivers, neither of which is Fitzpatrick's niche. Austin admitted on Wednesday that the usage of the All-Pro safety in 2023, while necessary, wasn't what Fitzpatrick needed to succeed.
"I probably failed in that regard because we tried to have him do too much stuff."
Fitzpatrick is similar to Troy Polamalu in the sense that the Hall of Fame safety needed to play his way to be the generational athlete he was, but also needed the right supporting cast. With Donte Jackson, Cam Sutton, and former Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Patrick Queen, the Steelers have the ability to release Fitzpatrick to roam once more.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin at a Pittsburgh Steelers practice.
Austin and Tomlin struggled through an extremely frustrating 2023 season, but Fitzpatrick's willingness to play outside his usual space will be rewarded in 2024. The former 11th-overall pick knows what he is capable of doing, just like Polamalu was, but he can't do it on his own. With the right people around him again, Fitzpatrick should get right back to shutting down opposing teams in eye-popping ways on a weekly basis.
How much better will Minkah Fitzpatrick be in 2024 compared to the 2023 season? Comment below.
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