Back at the start of the 2019 season, it look like things were dire for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger went down with an injury the team was in a spiral. But the front office didn’t panic. Instead of going out and trading for a veteran quarterback, the team instead went out and traded for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
At the time the move was curious because how could the team be better minus a future HOF quarterback by adding a safety. The move ended up working and the Steelers defense took things up a notch helping the team finish 8-8 with a combination of Duck Hodges and Mason Rudolph in charge of the offense.
Since the trade, Fitzpatrick has been named an All-Pro three of his four seasons and established himself as the best all-around safety in the NFL. Trust us when we say the Steelers appreciate Fitzpatrick.
However, according to CBS Sports, Fitzpatrick is one of the most underappreciated players in the NFL and we tend to agree. Here is what they had to say about Fitzpatrick:
We rave about Derwin James and Justin Simmons and Jessie Bates, but this guy should probably lead every conversation about top safeties. While Pat Freiermuth and Cameron Heyward are also worthy candidates here, Fitzpatrick has been an absolute ball-hawking machine since arriving in Pittsburgh, with 17 picks and 38 pass breakups in just under four full seasons.
Truth be told, there aren’t 10 defensive players in the league who can do more on a football field than Fitzpatrick. In fact 10 might be too generous. But when you play on a defense with T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, you tend to get a little lost in the mix.
