While most of the position battles are starting to work themselves out for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the cornerback battle—both for outside depth and in the slot—is still wide open. CB Thomas Graham Jr. joined the team in January when he signed a future contract and has really emerged throughout training camp as a contender for the 53-man roster.
He has made a number of big plays throughout camp and leads the defense in interceptions at practice with two. His ball skills have caught the attention of defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
“I think what you see from T.G. [Thomas Graham Jr.] is he’s making some plays,” Austin said in a transcript provided by the team after Sunday’s practice. “You see him around the football. All of a sudden there will be a nice interception and it’s T.G. There will be a nice play, a guy tackled for loss, showing up as a blitzer. And so he’s shown some versatility, and he’s shown the ability to get around the ball.
“We need guys that are able to make plays, make tackle for losses, get turnovers, all those different things. And he’s shown the ability to do that.”
Graham entered the league as a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He bounced on and off their practice squad and was activated for a few games as a game-day elevation. The Cleveland Browns signed him off the Bears’ practice squad toward the beginning of the 2022 season and he appeared in seven games for them. He was eventually waived/injured during the 2023 season.
In 11 career games, he has logged 19 total tackles, 11 solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and four passes defensed. The playmaking abilities that have been apparent throughout training camp didn’t show up in those 11 games.
But Graham is on a new team with a new opportunity ahead of him. When considering his biggest competition at the moment is undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr., it is quite a large opportunity. Bishop has been playing well in camp and was listed as the starter on the first depth chart last week, but Mike Tomlin has repeatedly warned the media to not overanalyze Bishop’s starting reps in camp.
Austin said Sunday that Bishop is in the mix for the starting role but it’s not as if the job is already won. Graham absolutely has a chance to wrestle that starting role away from Bishop. Just today he made another nice pass breakup on a deep throw along the sideline. If he continues to show those ball skills and can prove his ability to stop the run, he will be right in the mix with Bishop and Grayland Arnold for the starting slot corner job.
