How Good Is Minkah Fitzpatrick Still?

Minkah is the safety at the bottom of the screen, and this appears to be either Cover-2 or Cover-4 (Quarters) pre-snap. However, post-snap, both safeties move into the box, creating a Cover-3 look. Fitzpatrick sees the middle-of-the-field route develop and closes on it to prevent an easy completion. 

This rep against the Giants is another example of coverage disguise while also showing off his range on the backend. Pre-snap, Fitzpatrick looks like he’s a single-high safety, indicating Cover-1 to the quarterback. 

Post-snap, Fitzpatrick rotates out to a Cover-2 look and still has enough time to range over to the sideline and break up a pass thrown in a good spot to beat Cover-2. 

The Dolphins love to disguise their coverages under defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and Fitzpatrick should give them a chess piece to do whatever they want on the backend. He’s even a capable man-coverage defender. 

He does a nice job guarding tight end Mark Andrews in the slot, forcing a difficult throw from Lamar Jackson. Fitzpatrick’s man-coverage ability is a little hit or miss (he tends to open his hips too quickly sometimes), but he’s still more reliable than most safeties in these spots. 

Similarly, Fitzpatrick’s run defense can be a little erratic. That said, the highs are incredibly high, and his tackling was good enough last season. Watch him track Isaiah Likely in the slot, defeat his block, and then bring down Jackson in the open field on this play. 

It’s hard to make a better play than this, especially considering who he’s tackling in the open field. 

While there’s plenty of good stuff on Minkah’s tape — even in a down year — there are some worrying trends. For this piece, I watched every receiving touchdown the Steelers allowed last season. 

As mentioned above, Pro Football Reference tagged Fitzpatrick with allowing four touchdowns in coverage. After film review, I would put that number at two or maybe 1.5. The problem with “touchdowns allowed” as a stat is that it doesn’t always account for coverage responsibilities. 

Many times, a touchdown is assigned to the closest defender. Trying to parse out a secondary's responsibilities on any given play can also be challenging, and this was especially true when watching the Steelers because they had so many communication busts last season. 

Fitzpatrick overplayed some routes and pulled himself out of position at times, but there were also so many plays that looked like this one against the Ravens. Minkah points out the read twice, and he and the cornerback end up covering the same player anyway, leading to a score.

Stuff like this was all over Pittsburgh’s tape, and it’s a big reason why the defense was so ineffective down the stretch. 

The Final Word on Fitzpatrick 

So, where does all of this leave the Dolphins? 

After watching Fitzpatrick’s tape, many of his struggles appear to be a result of him covering up for others and operating in a system and role that don’t optimize his skill set. He spent too much time in the box and slot during the last two seasons. 

Minkah’s best reps are when he can play from depth — whether as a deep safety or middle of the field buzz defender — and break downhill to make plays. 

The Steelers didn’t have a reliable slot cornerback last season (likely a significant reason they traded for Ramsey), and they tried to have Minkah pick up some of the slack. He’s a capable cornerback and box player, but that’s hardly the best use of his talent. 

Fitzpatrick’s percentage of plays at cornerback has ticked up in recent years, reaching a career-high of 28% in 2023 before dropping to 11.4% this past season, but that’s still more than his career average. 

Ironically, one of the reasons Fitzpatrick pushed his way out of Miami in 2019 was that Brian Flores wanted to use him as a cornerback, whereas Fitzpatrick wanted to play safety. 

Now, it’s important to note that the drop in Minkah’s play is also a product of him making some mistakes. Whether his usage was ideal or the pieces around him did their jobs, Fitzpatrick’s 2024 and 2023 tape is worse than his previous seasons. 

He’s still good, and far better than what Miami had at safety this offseason and during the 2024 season, but he definitely took a step back. 

If Miami lets Fitzpatrick play free safety and doesn’t ask him to do too much toward the line, there’s a good chance he’s better than he was last season. Of course, that’s easier said than done with the Dolphins’ underwhelming cornerback room. 

The real optimism should come from how Minkah fits with Melifonwu and Davis. Melifonwu has a cornerback background, and his tape in the slot and box is better than Fitzpatrick’s from the past two years. 

If Miami wants a safety near the line at a high rate, it should be Melifonwu. That would keep Fitzpatrick and Davis in deep zones, maximizing both of their skill sets as smart players with good ball skills. 

Simply put, there are reasons to be optimistic about Fitzpatrick improving on his play with the Dolphins this coming season. 

More Miami Dolphins Coverage