Write ups on Minkah around the 2018 draft.
When the trade was announced my first reaction was "WTF, why?" It looked like our season was over with Ben out and we might end up with a top 10 pick. I honestly couldn't believe it and I was disappointed.
After having time to think about it, I'm much happier than I was, but still skeptical. I think they did this for 2 main reasons, but it will have to play out during the season to see if I'm right. First, I think that Colbert and Tomlin are still of the belief that our team is good enough with Rudolph to make a serious push this year. They think that a defense based around Watt, Haden, Bush, Tuitt, Heyward, Fitzpatrick is enough to build around and hold teams in check, while our O-line, Rudolph, Juju, McDonald, and Conner will be strong enough on Offense to put up points. After watching Rudolph work against a strong Seattle D, I can't say I disagree, and if we'd had Fitz to stop some of Wilson's quick passes then the outcome could have been different.
Second, the FO and Tomlin must believe that Fitzpatrick will drastically increase the quality of our secondary. I'm not sure where they plan to play him, in the slot or at FS, or as a utility defender, but they must believe that after he gets up to speed our defense will improve greatly. I like Mike Hilton out of the slot, and he was able to get pressure in the Seattle backfield on crucial plays, but I didn't really analyze his coverage during the Seahawks game. I think that having Minkah in the back end, replacing the injured Sean Davis (soon to be FA) and covering for a mediocre Edmunds, could be beneficial, but I'll be honest that I don't know enough about Fitzpatrick's game to know for sure how he'd do at FS. He was a leader of Bama's D in a year that they dominated, I feel like that can't be a bad thing.
Another point in support of this trade is that I haven't been a huge fan of several of our recent first round picks. Granted, if we actually had a high pick next year we might be able to get a game changer, but our recent track record in the secondary has been Artie Burns and Terrell Edmunds. I don't think our talent evaluation is great when it comes to that area of the defense. If we end up with a top 10 pick next year, I'm not sure this was a good deal, but I'm not sure that the season is as lost as it felt on Sunday right after the game ended.
Fitzpatrick is only 22 (23 in Nov), he's a young, talented, proven player. I don't think we'd have drafted a QB in the 1st, even if Rudolph plays poorly this year, because I think that Ben or Rudolph are the starting QB next year. Hey, if Rudolph does as poorly as some people think he will then we can just go heavy on D in 2020 and take Lawrence in 2021.