
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Wait a minute. Minkah Fitzpatrick isn’t even a cornerback. He’s a safety! How could he improve the Chiefs depth chart at the cornerback position?!
Yes, he is now listed as a safety on the Dolphins depth chart and in their first game played the majority of his snaps in the box safety role. However, this wasn’t the story last season. All of last season he played nearly 1,000 snaps on defense. Of those snaps, 70 percent were at slot corner and the boundary. How did he perform in these roles?
He had a fantastic season. Not only did he allow a meager completion percentage of 51.3 percent when he was targeted, quarterbacks who targeted him saw their ratings suffer. When being targeted he only allowed a quarterback rating of 49.7.
You see? He’s most definitely a cornerback, and he’s a pretty darn good one. He’s not the prize that Xavien Howard would be, but he would still satisfy the need. It’s pretty obvious he would be an upgrade at corner for the Chiefs.
For all of the same reasons as Howard, it seems pretty likely that Fitzpatrick will want out of Miami at some point this season. While the Chiefs would likely rather have Howard, as he is the more talented corner, Fitzpatrick would be a nice consolation prize if they couldn’t get a deal done for Howard. What’s more, he might cost them less in terms of pick compensation and he is still on his rookie deal.
If the Chiefs can’t get a deal done for either of these Miami dolphins, there are still luckily three targets left to improve the Chiefs depth chart.
Items to Note:
- Current Contract – First contract
- Years left until free agency – Four years
- Cap Hit this/next season – $3.7 million/$4.5 million