Minkah Fitzpatrick doesn't mind helping his 'younger brother' at Alabama
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Trevon Diggs is still working on mastering is coverage skills since being switched from receiver to cornerback this spring. Although if he is able to shadow opposing receivers as well as he does teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama’s secondary has nothing to worry about.
“Oh yeah, he sits next to me in the meetings every day,” Fitzpatrick said. “He follows me around in meetings and he’s riding with me in the car asking questions whenever because I played the position before and he knows I know what I’m doing so he trusts me asking me questions about it. He’s just soaking it all in trying to learn.”
Fitzpatrick doesn’t mind helping out one bit. The All-American defensive back remembers what it was like to be new at the position and how hard Alabama’s defense is to pick up. Entering his junior season, Fitzpatrick has made it a point to embrace a leadership role in the secondary.
As far as he’s concerned, Diggs is just a younger brother.
“I had a whole bunch of people doing the same thing for me, answering my questions, making sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing on and off the field,” Fitzpatrick said. “I have a younger brother, 9 years old, I know what it’s like to have somebody to look up to and somebody to answer to. I just do the same thing with him.”
Diggs had his share of ups and downs while breaking into the cornerback position this spring. The sophomore started with the first-team defense during A-Day and recorded an interception against starting quarterback Jalen Hurts early in the game. However, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year had the last laugh, twice beating the young cornerback on long touchdown passes.
Diggs let his frustration show after giving up a 65-yard touchdown from Hurts to Robert Foster. The senior receiver blew past Diggs on a go route, catching the ball in stride at the 30-yard line while leaving the beaten cornerback firmly in his dust. Following the play, Diggs slammed his fists into the grass in dismay.
Plays like those are when the sophomore needs his “big brother” the most.
“You’re going to get beat, but just make sure you don’t get beat again,” Fitzpatrick said. “You learn from it and just move on."
By all accounts, Diggs has shown growth during preseason camp. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound cornerback has primarily featured on the first unit during practice and has generated nothing but positive reviews from his teammates.
“He’s gotten a whole lot better,” cornerback Anthony Averett said last week. “He’s getting more experience and practicing more reps. The more reps you get the better you get. You know how to react to more, you see more. I know that worked for me."
Unlike Fitzpatrick, who has been seen at four different spots across the secondary, Diggs has worked exclusively at the cornerback position this preseason. Earlier this month, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said he had no plans of moving the sophomore around to different positions, instead stating he will allow him to focus on one defined role.
Fitzpatrick admits he was a little baffled upon first hearing of Diggs’ switch to corner because of how well the sophomore performed at receiver. However, after watching Diggs’ blend of athleticism and versatility during practice, he believes his teammate has all the tools to excel at his new position.
“The good thing is at wide receiver and you come over there to DB you don’t have any bad habits,” Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said during media day. “You’re really just learning. I think Trevon’s got a good skill set. The one thing about him, he’s a team player since he’s been here. He said, hey, I’ll play wherever y’all need me to play and we appreciate him for that.”
While Alabama has continued to switch up its looks in the secondary over the past few weeks, the ideal scenario would seemingly be for Diggs to win the starting cornerback position across from Averett. That would allow Fitzpatrick to remain at strong safety, the position he played at during the second half of last season. Although, as of now, nothing is set.
“I think the goal is to get the best four guys, the best five guys on the field in the best positions that will give us the best opportunity to have a chance to be successful in the back end,” Saban said earlier this month. “Minkah can play either place extremely well. So based on how the other players develop will probably determine to a large degree how they end up playing."
Diggs will have a little less than three weeks to prove to coaches that he is ready for the starting role, as No. 1 Alabama prepares for its season opener against No. 3 Florida State on Sept. 2. That’s time and experience he isn’t likely to waste.
“He’s going to be asking me questions,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s going to be doing what I’m doing so yeah, I just kind of embraced it.”
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