When the Steelers traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick back in September, I immediately wrote why he was different than any player the Steelers had in the secondary.
He went on to prove his worth earning first team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He also showed that he was the X-factor player the team has been looking for in its secondary since the retirement of Troy Polamalu. When you have a player that good at his job, it allows you to build around his talents with scheming and developed chemistry.
Here's a closer look at how that could work in Keith Butler's defense moving forward:
The first aspect to being the kind of X-factor that Fitzpatrick represents is being able to take away weaknesses on defense. One of the biggest problems the Steelers faced in 2018 were teams attacking the seams in their Cover 3 zone defense. It's a natural weakness for that play, and without a playmaker in the middle of the defense it becomes easier to exploit.
Watch how Mohammed Sanu and Matt Ryan took advantage of that last year as Sanu split the defense between Jon Bostic and Sean Davis for a touchdown:
Davis did a good job of communicating as a free safety to keep the secondary on the same page, but he didn't have the instincts to anticipate and counter attacks against those weaknesses. Fitzpatrick has that in spades and demonstrated that numerous times in 2019.
His biggest play of the year was a shining example as Jack Doyle ran up the seam as Fitzpatrick was the single high safety, much like Davis was on the Sanu touchdown. Only Fitzpatrick jumped the route, intercepting the pass and returning it for a touchdown:
Understanding the play calls and what on-field audibles to call out to maintain the defense is one thing. But knowing how to do that while also playing a key role at a high level is where Fitzpatrick took the free safety position. Having someone that reliable in pass defense allows for other players to be more aggressive in their assignments and trust that Fitzpatrick will have their backs.
But Fitzpatrick also brought another level of reliability in run defense. He would step up to make big tackles in key situations that might be more difficult to judge when to be aggressive and sellout from the free safety position.
Here's an example of that gone wrong, when Davis was late to react to a run by Alvin Kamara in 2018 and still missed his tackle when he had the chance to end the play:
But rarely do you see that kind of hesitation from Fitzpatrick. He understands his role while also moving and attacking from it. Watch how he comes from the deep safety position on an option run and takes away a chance for Kyler Murray to score after he got outside of Mark Barron:
Free safeties are almost always the last line of defense and are supposed to protect against the big plays. But great free safeties like Ed Reed or Earl Thomas are ones that can do that while also knowing when to be aggressive to help in a weak spot of the team.
Watch how Fitzpatrick comes from the deep safety position to help against this reverse to the extremely fast Perris Campbell. Campbell got outside of T.J. Watt's contain and was about to do damage with the same speed that earned him a 4.31 time in the 40-yard dash.
As soon as Fitzpatrick diagnosed the play, he flew up 14 yards and broke down in the right spot to stop Campbell and limit the play to a one yard gain:
Everything I've studied about Fitzpatrick from his days at Alabama, to his time in Miami and his 2019 season with the Steelers all show he's a sharp student of the game. Combine that with his elite athleticism and you have the potential for a legendary player.
Fitzpatrick was part of the first Steelers' defense to rank fifth or better in scoring in the NFL since it ranked first in scoring three times between 2008-2011. Now Butler has the chance to build around a player that can take away the middle of the field and help with other assignments.
Every great defense needs players like him to plan around. His skills will allow for Butler to scheme more help around other weak spots on the team and play into the fears of opponents. Fitzpatrick was targeted the fewest of any defensive starter by far, with only 26 targets on the year. The next closest to Fitzpatrick was Terrell Edmunds who had almost double the targets with 51.
Teams showed a great deal of respect to avoid Fitzpatrick as the season continued, which means Butler can have a better sense of where teams may try to target moving forward. How he'll use that to his advantage may become his legacy as a defensive coordinator in 2020.
MORE CLASSROOM
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