How much gas does New York Jets defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick have left in the tank?
I asked that very question to former NFL scout Bucky Brooks on “Boy Green Daily.”
“I think he has a lot of gas, but I think it’s going to look differently than it has looked before. When people think about gas, they think about athleticism in the way he moves around. I think now it’s a transition that veterans have where it is going to be more IQ, instincts, and awareness, and less about the physical stuff with Minkah. Because Minkah has played so many snaps, he has been in the league for so long, the game is going to be like slow motion,” Brooks told me on the podcast.
“So what you’re counting on for Minkah to do is to make sure that he is the conductor, he is the maestro on the backend, he gets everyone lined up doing what they’re supposed to do. Then he makes the plays that are there to be made like a vet does. A vet sets traps for young quarterbacks and those things. So there is still plenty enough gas left athletically [but] now I think it’s more of a chess game for Minkah Fitzpatrick as opposed to a physical and athletic game,” Brooks added.
A Forgotten Move From the Offseason
Fitzpatrick, 29, will turn 30 during the 2026 season.
The Jets acquired him on March 11 in a deal with the Miami Dolphins. All it cost was a 2026 seventh-round pick. Miami gave up on him in a salary dump move.
That was nearly three months ago, and it happened right around free agency. The headline quickly got buried with all of the other NFL moves.
What shouldn’t be lost is Fitzpatrick’s importance to this Jets defense. He is a key piece of the puzzle.
The Jets obviously think he still has gas left in the tank. As part of the trade agreement, the Jets immediately rewarded him with a three-year $40 million contract that included $20.5 million in guarantees.
Can They Get Him Back to His Former Self?
The Jets infamously didn’t register an interception as a defense last season. In the first five years of Fitzpatrick’s career in the NFL, he recorded 19 interceptions. However, over the last three years, he has only had two interceptions, what gives?
ESPN’s Rich Cimini might have cracked the code.
Fitzpatrick is listed as a free safety on the roster sheet, but he wants to be more than that. “I like being a chess piece,” he told the media last week via Cimini.
“That’s how the Dolphins used him last season. He played almost as many snaps from the slot (289) as free safety (333),” Cimini wrote.
The problem is that the majority of his production, “17 interceptions from 2019 to 2022 — Fitzpatrick was deployed predominantly as a free safety,” according to Cimini.
So if you’re the Jets, what do you do? Let Fitzpatrick do what he wants and roam across multiple positions, or play him where he fits best and where he can make the strongest impact? That’s a decision new defensive play-caller Aaron Glenn will have to make.
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