Center Zach Frazier isn’t the only West Virginia rookie who could put the clamps on a starting job with a strong outing Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills. Slot corner Beanie Bishop, the first-team nickel for most of the summer, could stamp his spot too.
If there was a training camp surprise, and this year’s edition didn’t have many of them, it was Bishop working in the slot for the majority of camp. He opened in that spot, initially splitting some time with SS DeShon Elliott, but clearly ran ahead of veteran Grayland Arnold throughout the first week and in the team’s preseason opener.
After recovering from a mid-camp injury, the pair flipped, and Arnold threw his hat into the ring as the team’s starting slot corner. But he suffered a calf injury attempting to block on a kick return during the final training camp practice. Carted off, he was placed on injured reserve Thursday, meaning he won’t be eligible to return off IR until later this year.
That puts Bishop back in, to steal the Mike Tomlin phrase, “pole position.” His top internal competition is Thomas Graham Jr., whom I deemed this year’s “camp darling” but it would take an upset for Graham to jump Bishop. Graham’s been aggressive and made plays on the football but lacks special teams value and might not be aggressive enough in run support to earn him the nod.
Put another way, it’s Bishop’s job to lose. His play this summer has been perhaps overstated by some in the media, a good but not great or dominant showing. He battled WR Calvin Austin III, winning some reps, losing others. But he’s had impressive moments, jumping in the air off a nickel blitz to pick-six an attempted Justin Fields’ screen pass, and Bishop was aggressive and fiery in the preseason opener, blowing up this running back on a blitz.
Per our charting, he allowed completions on both of his targets last Friday night, but neither play was egregiously bad and only amounted to 22 yards.
Beanie Bishop still needs further examination. Especially in coverage against bigger receivers who could give him matchup problems. If he can prove his mettle against the Buffalo Bills, who are expected to play their starters the first 20-25 minutes, the slot job could be his before he gets on a plane to Detroit for the Steelers’ preseason finale.
