Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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Minkah Fitzpatrick‘s production soared after being traded from the Dolphins to the Steelers last season and one of the reasons cited for that change was the way that he was used in the Pittsburgh defense.
After moving around the secondary throughout his time in Miami, Fitzpatrick was being used solely as a free safety by the Steelers and he turned in five interceptions in his first seven games with the team. That seemed to suit him well as Fitzpatrick was vocal about his dislike for his role in Miami.
Fitzpatrick’s impact was less pronounced over the back half of his time in Pittsburgh and he thinks part of the reason was that quarterbacks were able to avoid him because they knew where he’d be on the field. As a result, he’d like to reincorporate some of the movement that was taken off the table last year.
“I don’t want to see that drop-off,” Fitzpatrick said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “You know what I’m saying? 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.”
While the shift in view may lead to some head scratching in Miami, anything the Steelers can do to help Fitzpatrick make an impact on games would be welcomed during the 2020 season.