Minkah Fitzpatrick says the role he settled into with the Steelers eventually boxed him in.
Appearing on The Pivot, the former Pittsburgh safety said he felt his best football came when he could move around and attack offenses from different spots instead of living in one fixed lane.
“When I first got there, they just kind of plugged me in at the post safety, half safety,” Fitzpatrick said. “And I played well there.
After a while, quarterbacks aren’t going to be throwing you the ball a whole lot, or throwing [the post] or to your half. And I kind of got pushed into that role.
And people forgot that what I was known for was my versatility and doing different things. I think I’m a good football player, so no matter where you put me on the field, I’m gonna be a good football player.
But I think where my capabilities are maximized is when I can do different things. Whether it be in the post, next play in the half, next play rushing off the edge - doing different things.
And I think they got so used to me being in that role, and doing a good job of it… I just got stuck in that role. And after a while, my splash and production went down.
I was still playing ‘good football,’ but it wasn’t splashy football. And I just got stuck in a role that wasn’t splashy, wasn’t making a lot of plays…”
The numbers back up the shift in impact. From 2019-24, Fitzpatrick became one of the league’s premier defensive playmakers in Pittsburgh, earning three First-Team All-Pro selections and five Pro Bowl nods.
He also led the NFL in interceptions in 2022 with six. But from 2023-24, he had just one interception, and in June, 2025, he was traded back to the Dolphins for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith.
His comments line up with the broader concerns many around the team have voiced about the Steelers’ defense in recent years: that it had grown stale and struggled to adapt.
This summer, new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has started to show something different in training camp. He has moved T.J.
Watt around the defensive line, done the same with Alex Highsmith, and even put Watt, Highsmith and Nick Herbig on the field together. It still has to show up in a game, but the early looks have given the defense a different feel, and that’s been a welcome change for Pittsburgh.
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