Steelers plan to keep Minkah Fitzpatrick at free safety — yet also show off his versatility

After 18 games with the Miami Dolphins in which his role fluctuated, Minkah Fitzpatrick was slotted in as a free safety from the time the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired him last season.

But will they keep him there throughout 2020? The mixed messaging continued Monday.

The argument for pinning Fitzpatrick down as the “deep center fielder” is he made first-team All Pro last season in that role. The argument against it is it leaves myriad aspects of Fitzpatrick’s skillset untapped. Fitzpatrick was considered top-flight in slot coverage as a rookie, for example, and has shown proficiency playing “in the box,” too.

. @MarkMaddenX: If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The Steelers defense is anything but broke. If Minkah Fitzpatrick gets a bit bored, maybe that’s a good thing. https://t.co/HGXdGWB5LL

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 2, 2020

Over 9 minutes of speaking with the media Monday, gregarious defensive backs coach Tom Bradley seemed to articulate the Steelers’ conundrum. Asked why the Steelers would consider moving Fitzpatrick around more in his second season with the team, Bradley flatly replied, “I don’t think we will consider moving him around more.

“I think we like that combination where he is back there,” Bradley said during a video conference call with media. “We do bring him into the box at times just to make sure our tendencies can change up on them. But we like him right where he is at free safety.”

Steelers DB coach Tom “Scrap” Bradley this morning on what excites him most about his position group pic.twitter.com/XO7lZQLFmf

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 24, 2020

Part of what led the Dolphins to trade Fitzpatrick last September was that the former No. 11 overall draft pick was not happy playing strong safety and preferred free. Being that Fitzpatrick learned a new defense on the fly, the Steelers seemed content to keep him in one spot for the remainder of 2019.

But there has been speculation Fitzpatrick’s role could be expanded to more of a chess piece moved around this season. Bradley said that will be the case — to a point.

“We do move him around,” he said. “Formations are going to dictate a lot of different things we do with him. One of the things you always try to do in football is get your guys in the position that they do their best things. One of the things he does where he is really good is playing center field and being around the ball and doing all those things. We do have the capability to move him and put him in different spots. A lot of times formations will dictate that — motions, adjustments. But we would like to keep him in center field.”

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