Chris Infante
"Hello Chris? Hey, Howie again. Listen, that Minkah kid. No don't hang up! I know I did you dirty on that Ajayi trade, but it did get you Kalen Ballage! NO WAIT, sorry for bringing him up after his -1 yard rushing last week. I just want to make you an offer on Fitzpatrick. No not Ryan. Minkah. Let's do business."
This is what I imagine Howie Roseman's morning conversation with Dolphins' GM Chris Grier will be this morning, or at least I hope. Defensive special assistant Matt Burke will surely be sitting next to Howie during this conversation.
Reports surfaced early Friday morning that the Dolphins are allowing second year defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick to seek a trade:
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1172415964937195520?s=20
Fitzpatrick is a dynamic defensive back who is in his second year of his rookie deal. He is only 22, 23 in November, and is only 10 months older than the top cornerback prospect Trevon Diggs (also from Alabama) and only 22 months older than the top safety prospect Grant Delpit (LSU).
* A little fun fact while researching this: both Diggs and Delpit share the same birthday, one year apart. You're welcome *
Back to Fitzpatrick. As a rookie last season, with the aforementioned Matt Burke as his defensive coordinator, he had 80 tackles, two interceptions, and a pick six. His skillset fits the Eagles' defensive scheme perfectly.
Versatility
You'll immediately think of a current Eagles defensive back if you look at Fitzpatrick's defensive alignments last season, according to ProFootballFocus:
| Position |
2018 Snaps |
| Slot Cornerback |
379 |
| Perimeter Cornerback |
281 |
| Deep Safety |
166 |
| Box Safety |
95 |
| Defensive Line (Edge Blitz/TE coverage) |
23 |
| Total |
944
|
Can't think of
anyone on the Eagles who is all over the field like that?
https://twitter.com/BrandonGowton/status/1151521326517104640?s=20
An acquisition of Fitzpatrick would allow Jim Schwartz and Matt Burke to be extremely creative with their defensive alignments. This would make offensive coordinators go crazy. With the likes of Matt Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Russell Wilson on the schedule this season, the Eagles need all the versatility they can get.
But those are just some silly stats right? You need to see to believe? Well let's look at some tape on the next page and see just how great Fitzpatrick is.
Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Red Zone? No Problem
According to ProFootballFocus, Fitzpatrick was the fifth best corner in the red zone last season with an 85.0 overall grade. He was only targeted six times in the red zone and allowed ONE yard. ONE. Here he is forcing an incompletion on a pass thrown by Brady:
As you can see in the video, he lined up as a perimeter corner, where he played 281 snaps. Overall he allowed a passer rating of 69.0, but that's higher than the rating he allowed in his best position.
Playing the slots
Fitzpatrick can do it all, but what he can do the best is playing slot cornerback. Here he is lined up at slot and sniffs out the screen perfectly and has his first career pick six:
https://twitter.com/DolphinsQBgifs/status/1130688458245042176?s=20
His 69.0 overall passer rating pales in comparison to his 53.4 passer rating allowed in the slot. He only allowed ten first downs all season and had a 76.8 overall coverage grade from ProFootballFocus, ninth among all corners.
Role
Last week Fitzpatrick didn't have the best game. He allowed all six targets to be completed for for 117 yards and three touchdowns. This doesn't reflect on how Fitzpatrick is as a player in the slightest. It reflects on how poorly new Dolphins head coach Brian Flores uses him in the defense. He only played on 49 of the team's 77 defensive snaps against the Ravens, and only 12 of those snaps were at slot corner.
After the game, Flores stated that Fitzpatrick's role would change again versus the Patriots on Sunday and would probably change again versus Dallas next week. Not an ideal situation for Fitzpatrick.
Now Fitzpatrick has the chance to move on from Miami to a contending team that can use him the right way. Can you imagine a secondary with Ronald Darby and Avonte Maddox on the perimeter, Minkah Fitzpatrick in the slot, and Malcolm Jenks and Rodney McLeod at safety? With Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas as rotational pieces? That immediately vaults this secondary into the upper echelon of the league's secondary units and Matt Burke needs to be sprinting to Howie's office with his own cell phone. I'm sure Burke has Chris Grier's number on speed dial, that'll make it easier for Howie.
Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
