Second and third-year NFL players ready to break out in 2019

#15 Minkah Fitzpatrick

It wouldn’t be right for me to do finish this list without including one of my personal favorites here. I had Minkah as one of the four blue-chip prospects in last year’s draft. While I did think the first two in Saquon Barkley and Quenton Nelson were kind of in a league of their own and have proven me right so far, earning first-team All-Pro honors right off the bat, as well as Bradley Chubb finishing with 12 sacks, Fitzpatrick didn’t really get talked about at all his rookie year.

He played 87 percent of the defensive snaps, but of those about 70 percent were split between outside and slot corner, while only playing 17.6 at free safety. He showed tremendous versatility, recording 80 tackles, two interceptions, and nine PBUs, lining up all over the field for the Dolphins. His first pick came against Tom Brady and the second one he took to the house.

Among all defenders with at least 200 snaps in coverage, Fitzpatrick ranked first in completion percentage and passer rating allowed – and nobody even talked about it once. At the moment his best position clearly is slot cornerback and I would have no problem leaving him for now, because he already is well on his way to becoming one of the very best at it, but I think because that was also his primary spot at Alabama and the fact he doesn’t have a lot of experience seeing the field from the deep safety position is what has limited his development in that area.

When he was lined up at single-high we saw poor angles and he is still learning how to not let quarterbacks manipulate him. However, he definitely has the range and ball skills to excel in that role down the road. It is harder to find that free safety than a pure nickel and coming from that Patriots background, I definitely believe Brian Flores is looking for his version of Devin McCourty.

The new Dolphins HC has already mentioned that he wants Minkah to play a multi-faceted role in Miami’s new defense, where I see him at free on base downs and move down in the slot depending on situations. After all they don’t have anybody else that fits at free safety.