Typically when a young player draws comparisons to an all-time great, coaches are quick to dispel that, feeling it's not fair to the young player.
But when current Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was compared to Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu on Thursday for his ability to move all over the defense and affect play, Keith Butler, who has been fortunate enough to coach both, didn't tap the brakes on that talk at all.
In fact, he all but encouraged it.
When asked about moving Fitzpatrick, a two-time All-Pro safety, around the defense in the same manner the Steelers did with Polamalu when he was in his heyday, Butler said it might not rise to that level -- Polamalu had carte blanche to line up anywhere on the field, as long as he got to his assignment area at the snap -- but it would be similar.
"Not as much, I don’t think. But he’s a good player for us," Butler replied. "We like what he can do. We’re going to move him and use his versatility."
Fitzpatrick played all 85 defensive snaps for the Steelers in their 23-16 win last Sunday against the Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y. But he most certainly didn't line up in the same spot each time. Normally the free safety, Fitzpatrick played 48 snaps there. But he also dropped down, switching spots with rookie Tre Norwood and played 22 snaps in the slot, 13 in the box -- essentially as a linebacker in the dime defense -- and even a few on the defensive line.
It makes the Steelers hard to zero in on defensively and helps confuse opposing quarterbacks.
"That’s why you saw that," Butler said. "He’s normally the post safety in the middle of the field. When we move him out of that position on the field, I’m sure the quarterback is a little bit nervous. As you saw, Buffalo, they were holding the ball a little bit in our zone coverages. They weren’t sure where we were putting him, either. That’s what we want to do."
It's something the Steelers (1-0) plan on continuing to do, starting with their home opener this week against the Raiders (1-0) Sunday at Heinz Field.
The interesting thing is that the Steelers first acquired Fitzpatrick in 2019 via a trade with the Dolphins because he didn't want to be a player who was moved all over the field. In his rookie season with Miami in 2018, Fitzpatrick played 95 snaps in the box, 379 snaps in the slot, 166 at free safety and 281 at outside corner.
The Dolphins made a coaching change after that year and Brian Flores and his staff wanted Fitzpatrick to play even more in the box as a dime linebacker. In his first two games that season, he played 44 snaps in the box, 33 at free safety, 26 at slot corner and seven snaps outside.
That caused him to ask for a trade, which the Dolphins granted, sending him to the Steelers for, among other things, a 2020 first-round draft pick. He's been named All-Pro twice since that move, picking off nine passes.
But as the deep safety, opponents also can avoid throwing at him. So the Steelers and Fitzpatrick want to force the issue. That's why, according to Butler, Fitzpatrick had no issue being asked to move around the Steelers defense last week.
"We didn’t have to convince him of anything. He was wanting to do that," Butler said. "He enjoyed himself and we enjoyed him doing it."
What's the difference between now and then?
"He’s more comfortable with the defense. He knows what everybody else is doing," Butler said. "When he first got in here — nobody knows all the things we’re doing — but we encourage to learn what all 11 guys are doing. If you know what all 11 guys are doing, then you know where your help is and where your help isn’t. I think he’s done a good of learning that over the time he’s been here, so he said, ‘Hey, I’d like to do that.’ "
He could be a key this week against a team like the Raiders, whose featured pass catcher is tight end Darren Waller. Waller was targeted 19 times in Las Vegas' overtime victory in Week 1 over the Ravens, finishing with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
The Steelers won't just use Fitzpatrick to cover the 6-foot-6, 256-pound tight end. But he'll be tasked with doing it at times. At other times, he'll still be deep. But that doesn't mean he can't affect plays close to the line of scrimmage. Against the Bills, Fitzpatrick came from 20 yards deep to stop running back Matt Breida for a 2-yard gain on third-and-3 to set up a fourth-and-1 play Cam Sutton sniffed out to drop for a 7-yard loss and turn the ball over on downs.
He looked a lot like Polamalu on the play.
"He read it," Butler said. "He was supposed to be in the deep half and he read the dadgum play. Another Troy-like deal."
