Leading up to training camp, there were many questions about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ plan at slot corner. Cam Sutton was signed during spring practices, but was suspended for eight games by the NFL. That left the competition open for the starting slot corner over the first eight weeks of the season. The main candidates entering camp were veteran CBs Josiah Scott and Grayland Arnold, along with undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr.
The assumption, as it played out with virtually every other rookie, was that the veterans would get the majority of the first-team reps over the first week of practice. Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Roman Wilson and Payton Wilson were all running with the second units with sparse first-team reps mixed in. But that wasn’t the case with Bishop. He’s been running with the first-team defense since the first practice.
S DeShon Elliott has been working in the slot some as well, but Bishop has been running ahead of both Scott and Arnold. Mike Tomlin pumped the brakes on Friday after the second practice when the media asked about Bishop running with the first-team defense. He told them not to overanalyze his involvement this early on in the process. That was a fair thing for Tomlin to say. The pads weren’t on yet at that point, and things can change as the days go on.
I know what Tomlin said, but I can’t help but “overanalyze” Bishop’s involvement with the first-team defense.
Scott was released on Monday evening, which further solidifies Bishop’s job at the moment. He now just has Arnold to compete against, but Arnold has almost exclusively been working with the second-team defense.
This dates back to defensive coordinator Teryl Austin’s thoughts during spring practices when he told the media that the slot CB battle was wide open. Even Omar Khan said Bishop has a “great opportunity” to contribute this season in an interview with the DVE Morning Show back in May.
It would be one thing if they were working a rotation with Bishop getting first-team reps one day and Arnold (or Scott when he was on the roster) getting them the next day. But that really hasn’t been the case. Alex Kozora has noted Bishop’s involvement throughout his training camp diaries, and Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo said he doesn’t look out of place.
And today, during the second padded practice, Bishop had a nice coverage rep in the end zone matched up against WR George Pickens, per Brian Batko on X.
Those types of plays matched up against great talents like Pickens will turn some heads and earn some trust from the coaching staff.
I can’t say any of this is particularly surprising to me. Bishop was a six-year college guy, and will be turning 25 years old in December of his rookie season. He had a whopping 20 pass breakups last season and 4 interceptions. He is aggressive, has good ball skills and plays bigger than his 5091, 180-pound frame would suggest.
This was a guy the Steelers had in for a (local) pre-draft visit, too. They had their eyes on him well before they signed him as an undrafted free agent. The real test is making sure everything looks good now that the pads are on. He must be able to tackle and provide adequate support in stopping the run if he is going to play in the slot. So far, so good.
