While Beanie Bishop Jr. had been the talk of the town, this week appears to belong to Grayland Arnold. The veteran slot defender is back from a minor injury and running with the first-team offense. To hear his coaches talk, this is a big week for him to make the team and potentially start.
“Well, he just got back into practice last week, so this week will be an interesting week for him”, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said via transcript provided by the Steelers. “Really to see him go full speed all week at practice and leading up to the game and I think that’s going to be an important one for him and how he performs this week will be key”.
Yesterday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin also said outright that Grayland Arnold will get more reps “and more quality reps”. We saw that reflected in the Steelers’ practice yesterday, running over Beanie Bishop. That seems to be the plan for the week, so expect to see Arnold run with the ones against the Buffalo Bills.
A 2020 college free agent out of Baylor, Grayland Arnold has spent most of his career with the Houston Texans. He has played in 20 games for them over the past three seasons, most extensively in 2023. Last season, he logged a career-high 143 defensive snaps, also contributing 132 on special teams.
Arnold landed on the Reserve/Injured list in mid-November, however. The Steelers signed him in early June, and he has entered the slot competition since then. Bishop had been the most exciting name in the mix, but they need to see all of their options.
Bishop started in the slot during the Steelers’ preseason opener, and he had his ups and downs. He is still in the mix for the starting job, but he is not the sole candidate. Arnold and Thomas Graham Jr. are also competing for that role, which may be a placeholder.
The Steelers have Cameron Sutton on the 90-man roster, but he won’t start the season with them. He is set to serve an eight-game suspension, so they will have to get by without him for a while. Whether Bishop or Arnold or somebody else, somebody has to play in the slot.
“We’re going to let this play out for the next couple of weeks”, Austin said of the battle for the Steelers’ slot defender role. It is a role that the team has left in flux for a few years now since allowing Mike Hilton to walk during free agency. They had Arthur Maulet for two seasons, then Chandon Sullivan last year.
