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Tim Benz: Minkah Fitzpatrick doesn't need to move in Steelers defense. Stats, video tell the story. | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Tim Benz: Minkah Fitzpatrick doesn't need to move in Steelers defense. Stats, video tell the story.

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick celebrates with the fans after returning a fumble against the Los Angeles Rams in the second quarter Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019 at Heinz Field.

Is Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick perpetually unhappy with his job description?

Or does he have a point?

When Fitzpatrick requested a trade from the Miami Dolphins early last season, apparently part of his reasoning for doing so was that he was switching positions too much for his liking within the framework of Miami’s defense.

He didn’t seem thrilled by it. And neither did his mother.

Upon being dealt to Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick was ensconced in the free safety position.

He thrived. As did the Steelers defense. The second-year defensive back from Alabama was part of eight turnovers in Pittsburgh (five interceptions, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries). The Steelers ended up leading the NFL in takeaways with 38. And Fitzpatrick was named All-Pro.

However, over the last seven weeks of the season, he touched the ball just twice. He had a pass defensed against the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. And he recovered a fumble against the Cincinnati Bengals 22 yards downfield, which was caused by Devin Bush.

Now — in a 180-degree turn — Fitzpatrick is saying he wants to be deployed in various places around the field again.

“I don’t want to see that drop-off,” Fitzpatrick told ESPN.com last week. “I wanted to continue to have that impact on my team and have that impact on games. Because it’s no fun when you’re in a critical moment and you can’t do nothing about it.

“When you move around and you’re a moving piece on the chessboard, it’s hard to defend and you can’t just say, ‘All right, the quarterback is going to look at me and say he’s going to be in this spot every snap,’ like I was last year. It’s going to be harder and it’s going to be more difficult to take me out of the game.”

I get his frustration. But it’s a stark contrast to his previous complaints about his time in Miami.

So let’s see if Fitzpatrick is barking up the right tree by examining where exactly he originated on the field when his turnovers occurred.

In his first game as a Steeler (Week 3 in San Francisco), Fitzpatrick started in the deep middle of the field. He was 14 yards off the ball and the only defender out of the screen. Fitzpatrick came up on a tipped ball by Joe Haden for an interception. Fitzpatrick was still 11 yards back from the line of scrimmage after he caught the fluttering deflection.

Later in that game, he forced a fumble 10 yards down the field on a run play, where once more, Fitzpatrick was lined up deep enough to be out of the frame at the snap.

Fitzpatrick’s next two interceptions were in Week 7 against his former team. Again, the first was on a tipped ball where Fitzpatrick was the deepest player back and came up on the deflection. The other was on a third-and-10 heave 50 yards downfield.

Fitzpatrick’s pick-6 touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8 occurred at the goal line after a snap from the 20. Fitzpatrick was right in the middle of the field.

The next week against the Rams — stop me if you heard this before — Fitzpatrick snared a tipped ball where he started to make his break on it approximately 18 yards back from the line of scrimmage.

Fitzpatrick was the deepest player back in the formation when Javon Hargrave knocked the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands on a third down and it bounced right to Fitzpatrick before he returned it for a score.

So what do we take from that study?

Well, first of all, boy, was Fitzpatrick the beneficiary of a lot of tipped passes and fumbles rolling right to him. But, kudos to him for at least being in the right place, at the right time, and covering ground to get there.

The Steelers had very little of that the previous season when they generated a meager 15 turnovers, the third-lowest total in football.

The offshoot of that that, though, undermines part of Fitzpatrick’s premise. On three of his five interceptions, it’s not like he was the defensive back being challenged in the first place. Other Steelers defenders were being targeted.

Therefore, it’s tough for Fitzpatrick to argue that turnovers ceased coming his way based on the quarterback avoiding him. Six of the eight times he got the ball back as a Steeler, the QB wasn’t coming at him to begin with, or the ball was fumbled.

So it’s not like the consistency of his position was that much of a variable in the equation.

There’s another line of reasoning against Fitzpatrick’s argument. Let’s say he’s right, and his threat in the secondary spooked quarterbacks into avoiding attempts over the top of the Steelers defense and shots down the middle of the field.

Is that a bad thing?

The Steelers finished fourth in adjusted yards per pass attempt in 2019. They were 24th the year before when Fitzpatrick was still in Miami.

That improvement may have been even greater if Fitzpatrick had been with the club in the first two weeks of this season.

Also, who is to say how many fractions of a second per dropback Fitzpatrick caused when it came to quarterbacks holding onto the ball? That improved coverage in the middle-third to deep-third of the defense must’ve contributed to the Steelers’ NFL-leading sack total of 54.

Keep in mind as well, with Fitzpatrick on board in the secondary, the Steelers don’t have to blitz as much to increase the pressure. They can maintain coverage with seven players and get to the quarterback with four rushers more often, thus making it more difficult for the quarterback to get rid of the ball.

Do the Steelers really want to give up that security at the risk of pushing the envelope for a few more turnovers? Do they want to run the risk of more coverage busts and deep plays allowed in the name of Fitzpatrick ball-hawking?

I wouldn’t. Especially in the wake of how much more settled and cohesive the defense seemed with Fitzpatrick back there. Fitzpatrick’s constant presence at the free safety position went a long way toward improving communication and deterring opposing QBs from being so bold.

A wrinkle here and there, OK. But adopting a Troy Polamalu-esque “moving piece on the chessboard?” Nah. Unnecessary.

This whole conversation goes back to one of the points I made when the trade occurred. Getting Fitzpatrick from south Florida — while worth the cost of a first-round pick — was still done to acquire a free safety. A guy who mostly lines up farther away from the ball more than anyone else on the field.

The Steelers deemed that need worthy enough to address with a first-round pick. And if you subscribe to the theory that each 1/11 of the defense is equally as important to the unit’s effectiveness, then defenders of the trade should be satisfied with the results.

So should the coaching staff. And so should the player.

Which is why it’s funny to me that Fitzpatrick is already reversing course and asking for a complete flip to a role he previously didn’t like.

If Terrell Edmunds can be the Robin to Fitzpatrick’s Batman — as Ryan Clark and Chris Hope were for Polamalu’s freelancing — then Fitzpatrick might be onto something.

Or, maybe they can find another safety better suited to do so. In either case, though, easier said than done.

Short of that happening, I say leave well enough alone.

Whether that makes Fitzpatrick happy or not.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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