When one door closes, another door opens.
That is especially true in the business of professional sports, particularly in the NFL.
With the news of an eight-game suspension for veteran cornerback Cameron Sutton throwing a wrench into things for the Pittsburgh Steelers, closing the door on an answer at slot cornerback early in the year, another door opened again for undrafted rookie free agent cornerback Beanie Bishop out of West Virginia.
For the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko, during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan Tuesday morning, Bishop has a “prime audition opportunity” in front of him in training camp with the Sutton suspension being handed down so early.
“Initially I thought he was probably the undrafted guy with the best chance of making the 53 [man roster] because he was pretty productive in the Big 12 for the Mountaineers,” Batko said of Bishop, according to 93.7 The Fan on YouTube. “And he is an older guy, so obviously that hurt his draft stock, but sometimes that helps to make an impact right away in the NFL and be one of those long shots who makes it. So then I thought, ‘Hey, now his chances are going down when they signed Sutton.’ But this probably helps Bishop out again.
“They’re gonna have to use him with the first team and see what they’ve got in him at slot corner in camp and preseason because you’re not gonna have Sutton for the first two months, basically, if you’re ever gonna end up using him at all. So it’ll be a really prime audition opportunity for Beanie Bishop.”
When the Steelers landed him as a UDFA following the 2024 NFL Draft, excitement was rather high considering Bishop’s 2023 production at West Virginia and a skill set that translated well to the slot, which was an area of need all offseason for the Black and Gold.
Bishop measured in at 5091 and 182 pounds at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl in Dallas.
Despite the smaller size, Bishop had a dominant 2023 season. He recorded 20 pass breakups as he was constantly around the football and really emerged as a leader in the Mountaineers’ secondary. He then turned heads at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Later in the draft process, the Steelers hosted him as a pre-draft visitor, getting a good look at the 24-year-old cornerback. Though the Steelers didn’t end up drafting him, they quickly struck a deal with him as an undrafted free agent, securing him on their 90-man offseason roster and giving Bishop a chance to make the 53-man roster at the end of training camp.
Things were looking up for Bishop since the Steelers hadn’t addressed slot corner entering Organized Team Activities. Then the Steelers took advantage of the non-existent market for Sutton due to his arrest on a domestic violence charge, which put Bishop behind the 8-ball in the slot.
Sutton’s suspension opens that door up for Bishop again. Though Sutton will be able to practice in the preseason and play in preseason games, he won’t be allowed to be around the Steelers early in the regular season and will be on the suspended list, so the Steelers will have to find an answer in the slot.
Bishop could be that guy. He will find himself in a battle with the likes of veterans Grayland Arnold, Josiah Scott and Thomas Graham Jr., but Bishop has the ideal skill set and physicality to be what the Steelers want in the slot.
The opportunity is in front of him with the door now opened. He just needs to take advantage and step through that open door.
