Minkah Fitzpatrick Included in Second Installment of 'Top 100 NFL Players of 2024'

The four-time Pro Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers safety is the second former Alabama standout to be featured on this year's Top 100 list.

Sep 10, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39) reacts as he takes the field to play the San Francisco 49ers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL consistently includes several former Alabama Crimson Tide standouts in the annual "Top 100 NFL Players" list and two players have already made the cut.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver and 2020 Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith landed at the No. 90 spot in this year's list on Monday, and four-time Pro Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was named the league's 79th-best player on Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick only played in 10 games last season but still made the Pro Bowl. In this limited amount of time, Fitzpatrick logged 64 tackles and three pass breakups. He led a Pittsburgh secondary that gave opposing quarterbacks the 10th-lowest rating in the league (84.7) and the sixth-lowest completion percentage (60.7 percent).

The annual list is made by the players, and while there's no concrete definition of the criteria, it's inferred that these players don't necessarily vote for their league-mates solely based on the previous season's performance. For example, four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers landed at the No. 92 spot on this year's ranking despite suffering a season-ending torn achilles in Week 1.

That being said, Fitzpatrick's dominance in the 2022-23 season likely played a factor in landing a spot on this year's list. That season, he recorded 96 tackles, 11 pass breakups and a league-high six interceptions, including a pick-six. He received the 10th-most votes for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award and was named a First Team All-Pro for the third time of his career.

The league still gave Fitzpatrick a ton of votes for the 2023 version of the Top 100 as he was ranked the 18th-best player in the league. But it is still safe to assume that players vote based on overall performance across multiple seasons, not just one.

Overall, Fitzpatrick has made the Top 100 four times in his six-year career. In addition to the aforementioned rankings for the past two seasons, he was also No. 35 in 2020 and No. 52 in 2021.

Fitzpatrick was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 11th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. He's widely considered one of the best defensive players in the Nick Saban era as while at Alabama, Fitzpatrick won two CFP National Championships (2015, 2017), the Chuck Bednarik Award (2017), the Jim Thorpe Award (2017), was named a Unanimous All-American (2017) and Consensus All-American (2016), while being named a First-team All-SEC member twice (2016, 2017).

Expect plenty more Crimson Tide products to be featured on the "Top 100 NFL Players" list:

• Wednesday, July 24: No. 70-61
• Thursday, July 25: No. 60-51
• Friday, July 26: No. 50-41
• Monday, July 29: No. 40-31
• Tuesday, July 30: No. 30-21
• Wednesday, July 31: No. 20-11
• Friday, August 2: No. 10-1