Plenty of questions have been posted for the Steelers to consider as they head into free agency on March 17. Important decisions on the future of Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Haden, potential re-signings of free agents and when to pay T.J. Watt all loom soon for Kevin Colbert.
But another player the Steelers' front office can't lose in the shuffle is planning for a long future with Minkah Fitzpatrick. Watt is the playmaker upfront, but Fitzpatrick is the centerpiece X-factor of the secondary who can keep the defense together.
Defenders in the middle of the field are often the building blocks of great defenses. Just like all the Steelers' Super Bowl champion teams had vital inside linebackers like Jack Lambert and James Farrior, they also had top-tier safeties like Glenn Edwards, Donnie Shell and Troy Polamalu.
Those are the ranks Fitzpatrick could find himself among if he continues his track of building back-to-back All-Pro seasons on the Steelers' roster like he has the last two years.
But it's not just the nine interceptions in two seasons or the acknowledgements that make Fitzpatrick important; it's the several roles he fills for the Steelers. Because of Fitzpatrick's ability to be the deep-ranging centerfield safety who can make plays on the ball at anywhere on the field, opposing quarterbacks have to be extremely cautious when throwing near him.
In 2020, Fitzpatrick was only targeted 18 times during his 599 snaps in coverage. Of those 18 targets, Fitzpatrick allowed seven receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown. The other targets resulted in him having 11 pass breakups, including four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
That means he was targeted once every 33 plays in coverage, and allowed a catch every 85 snaps in coverage. When targeted, quarterbacks were more likely for Fitzpatrick's hands to get on a pass than they were for the pass to end up in the intended receivers' hands.
That's insanely impressive, especially since he fills several different roles as a safety. Some play in deep zone coverage to patrol the back-end of a defense and limit offenses from big plays, while others mix underneath zone coverage with occasional man coverage against receivers and tight ends over the middle.
Fitzpatrick is comfortable doing all of that.
The key to maximizing a talent like that is finding different way to disguise where a safety like Fitzpatrick will go. Here's a perfect example where that can fool a quarterback into a mistake that can change a game. Look at how Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds are lined up next to each other, showing that both are in a deep cover two scheme.
At the snap of the ball, Fitzpatrick jumps into underneath coverage while Edmunds falls back into playing deep coverage in the middle of the field. Phillip Rivers didn't recognize it in time, and Fitzpatrick jumped the pass:
Fitzpatrick barely missed the chance at returning an interception for a touchdown, just like he did against the Colts in 2019.
Mixing up whether Fitzpatrick or Edmunds would play in underneath zone coverage was a big tactic to put quarterbacks into guessing games. Offenses would often work more underneath passes to avoid the prospect of giving Fitzpatrick a chance on making a play on deeper passes.
If they guessed wrong, they were liable for Fitzpatrick to not drop the interception. Baker Mayfield found that out the hard way:
That kind of X-factor type of player turns games around on his own.
And even when he's not turning games around, it's because quarterbacks are putting serious efforts to avoid him. Doing that allows for more opportunities for other defenders in the boundaries to make plays on passes avoiding the middle parts of the field Fitzpatrick defends or even where quarterbacks just think he's defending.
That's what it means when someone says a quarterback's 'seeing ghosts.'
But on top of creating that element for the defense, Fitzpatrick also was the failsafe for the defense when something went wrong. Multiple times, Fitzpatrick would make up for a target being lost by another defender and come to the rescue by breaking up a pass to a player a quarterback thought was wide open.
That's what happened when Mayfield tried to target David Njoku:
Fitzpatrick knows his role well enough that he can also jump in and help others.
Adding to that factor is his ability wipe away opportunities in various situations. Some safeties like Tyrann Mathieu of the Chiefs specialize working in space and against smaller receivers. Other safeties have the size to take on tight ends and fight through contact catch opportunities using their size.
Fitzpatrick finds a way to do both. Luke Wilson had an opportunity being open in the end zone, but Fitzpatrick not only caught up with him, fought through his hands and broke up the touchdown:
Textbook response to the situation.
And the more you watch the plays where Fitzpatrick gets his hands the ball you find that the way he consistently combines exceptional athleticism with textbook technique for so many different situations.
Watch how he drops down from his deep coverage to help Cam Sutton in slot coverage. Terry McLaurin broke away on a shallow cross, as he often does, and was open for Alex Smith. But Fitzpatrick recognized it from ten yards away, navigated through traffic and jumped all over the pass:
That's just another example of how versatile Fitzpatrick has proven to be.
The Steelers have a chance with their young players on defense have a strong core that carries the franchise into its next era after Roethlisberger.And Fitzpatrick is at the center of that happening.
Whatever plans the Steelers make with their future cap space, there needs to be considerable room left for Fitzpatrick to be paid in full.