How much do the Pittsburgh Steelers believe in rookie college free agent CB Beanie Bishop Jr.? Quite a lot if you go by general manager Omar Khan’s reaction when asked about him. He fielded a question about the slight West Virginia defensive back on the DVE Morning Show with Randy Baumann yesterday.
“Beanie Bishop!”, he said, with considerable enthusiasm when the rookie’s name came up. “I can’t tell you how excited we were to have an opportunity to sign Beanie Bishop after the draft.
“We had him in here for a visit. When he was in here, we talked about our defense and how he would fit in, and we really felt like he was a guy who could come in and compete. We were able to do business with him after the draft, and I think he’s gonna have a great opportunity to help us this year, at nickel corner, and he adds special teams value”.
Khan himself volunteered the notion of Bishop competing to contribute as a rookie. One wonders how highly the Steelers truly covet him, perhaps viewing him as an extra draft pick. It’s worth remembering that they did not have a seventh-round pick this year. They used their final selection, 195th overall, on Texas DB Ryan Watts.
I’m not saying Beanie Bishop Jr. is the next Mike Hilton and that he’s going to start right away. I am saying that the Steelers have a glaring hole at the slot defender spot, however. I’m not even sure who would play there right now if the season were to begin today. Donte Jackson, Damontae Kazee, or perhaps Darius Rush? Any of them is possible, but none have proven themselves in that role. And Jackson is expected to start on the outside, while Kazee is primarily a safety.
I do think it’s plausible that Bishop has an opportunity to compete for some defensive playing time this year. As Khan hinted, though, special teams will be vital to his path toward the 53-man roster. To that end, he’s no stranger to such work. Over the past three seasons, he’s played over 500 snaps on special teams as a four-phase guy. He’s also worked on the field goal-blocking unit.
That special teams acumen is his foot in the door, as it was initially for Hilton, and he can grow from there. Playing significantly on defense as a college free-agent rookie is a lot to ask, for sure, and he clearly has his limitations. But the Steelers don’t have a ton of options, and Bishop has the skill set to compete there.
Most likely, the Steelers will find a veteran free agent, perhaps Chandon Sullivan on a return contract. He will at least compete for the nickel job, but there’s no harm allowing Bishop to throw his hat in the ring. During training camp last year, they virtually held an open competition for the role. Remember Duke Dawson and Elijah Riley in the mix? Good times.
