Minkah Fitzpatrick had an interesting last couple of years, which culminated in his being moved to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith. Part of the reason Fitzpatrick was moved is his lack of production the past two seasons, but that isn\u2019t stopping Ray Fittpaldo from thinking he could have a good season with Miami in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor whatever reason, it just didn\u2019t work the last two seasons,\u201d Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan<\/a> on Friday. \u201cAnd you know, that can happen too. It can just be circumstances, who you\u2019re playing with, the way the league has trended\u2026I would not be surprised, just with a change of scenery, maybe a different coach, maybe somebody sees a different way to utilize him. I would not be surprised at all if Minkah had another really good season down in Miami this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Fitzpatrick certainly still does many things well. During the 2024 season, he had 96 tackles, tied for the second-most in a single season in his career. He also missed just four tackles the entire year, a steady final line of defense.<\/p>\n However, while stopping the run wasn\u2019t an issue, things were more bleak against the pass. Fitzpatrick just wasn\u2019t able to stop much of anything coming his way. He allowed a completion rate of 78.8-percent and a 127.6 passer rating when targeted. Each of those are his worst marks in his career in those categories and by a wide margin.<\/p>\n Most alarming was his lack of interceptions. Since coming to Pittsburgh, Minkah Fitzpatrick has made his money by taking the ball away. He did that exceptionally well as recently as 2022, leading the league with six interceptions. However, he had none in 2023 and just one in 2024. While he was still great against the run, the Steelers didn\u2019t think he was worth it anymore since he wasn\u2019t creating turnovers<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, Fittipaldo doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s entirely his fault.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he was making his All Pros, he was able to sit back and read the quarterback, and make game-changing plays,\u201d Fittipaldo said. \u201cAnd now the game\u2019s changed to a point where teams are not taking those deep, down the field shots as often as they used to. And it\u2019s kind of become a game that\u2019s played between the 20s more so than over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n Fittipaldo\u2019s not wrong that teams have been straying away from the deep ball. More and more defenses are playing with two-high safeties to limit big-play aerial attacks. Quarterback play is certainly not at its peak across the league, and offensive lines aren\u2019t especially impressive either. Against two-high safeties, those factors limit the risks some offenses are willing to take.<\/p>\n Yet, 52 passes went Fitzpatrick\u2019s way last year, and 41 were caught. It\u2019s not like defenses were completely avoiding him.<\/p>\n