Alabama’s 2017 national championship team had dozens of elite players. The roster was littered with future NFL picks.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins first-round pick, explained in 2 minutes
He’s so good, even Nick Saban will say so out loud.
Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images
But the best player on the team that eventually took the NCAA title was Minkah Fitzpatrick, a junior defensive back. It doesn’t do Fitzpatrick to call him a safety or a linebacker, because he was whatever Alabama needed on any given play.
And now he’s a Miami Dolphin.
Fitzpatrick is an incredible athlete, even for a Bama DB.
The St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) product was a five-star prospect in the class of 2014. On the recruiting camp circuit the year before, Fitzpatrick punched in a 4.45-second 40-yard dash time and logged a 37.4-inch vertical leap. He’s now a listed 6’2 and 220 pounds and has the physical attributes of a Madden create-a-player.
Even Nick Saban admits he’s amazing.
Fitzpatrick’s coach is not normally one to effusively praise his own players. Saban has railed several times this year about “rat poison,” his word for media hype that could get to his players’ heads.
But Saban, a former defensive back himself, has reserved special recognition for Fitzpatrick. Before the season, he described the junior thusly:
He’s one of the most versatile players in the country.
He’s the strong safety on the depth chart, but you’ll also see him man-up receivers in the slot and on the outside. You’ll probably see him crash toward the line and play linebacker, too.
Fitzpatrick has the lateral quickness to be a hellacious slot corner:
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And the closing speed to come from out of your TV screen into the backfield to blow up a running play in the blink of an eye:
ABC
And, of course, suffocating deep coverage skills:
Those were just three examples from the middle of one game.
Fitzpatrick is a finalist for two big national honors:
The Thorpe Award, for the country’s top defensive back, and the Bednarik, for the country’s top defensive player altogether. He has a strong case for both of them.
Fitzpatrick will be eligible for the NFL next year. The latest mock draft by SB Nation’s Dan Kadar has him in the top 10. If he’s healthy, he’s a surefire first-rounder, and some team’s going to be happy to have landed him.
But at least for Saturday, Fitzpatrick is Auburn’s problem.
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