First Round Management
Likely
Ball magnet. Six interceptions as a freshman — against only 16 tackles of total involvement — is one of the strangest, most tantalizing stat lines in the country, and it extends a Christopher Columbus high school run that produced eight more picks in his last two seasons. Fitzgerald finds the football at a rate that cannot be coached, and Miami has him penciled into a much larger 2026 role with breakout-2.0 expectations attached. The top-240 pedigree says the profile is not a fluke. However, 16 tackles is the honest counterweight: he was a situational player whose takeaway rate is mathematically unsustainable, and until he holds up as an every-down safety — run fits, man coverage, the unglamorous downs — this is one elite trait in search of a complete game. He cannot enter a draft before 2028, and the projection currently sits at 2029. The grade reflects a rotational sample with a genuinely draftable ceiling; the 2026 snap count writes the next chapter.
Full scouting view →