Player: CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Beanie Bishop Jr. became the first rookie undrafted player to start for the Steelers since I don’t even know when. Well, he didn’t officially start, but he was a starter, playing 59 percent of the snaps. And on the whole, he did pretty well, particularly showing that he can tackle at his size.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin left the door open for other people to take Beanie Bishop Jr.’s job. However, by the time they were ready to roll the ball out, you already know who was going to be out there. The rookie college free agent was their primary slot defender in Week 1, itself a remarkable feat.
Undrafted out of West Virginia, Bishop ran with the starters through most of training camp, which surprised even him. Along the way, he did nothing to lose his job, though Tomlin explored other options. The only thing that got in his way was an injury, which affected his availability for most of the preseason.
Despite those challenges, Bishop came out ahead, his chief rival now not even on the 53-man roster. And as it stood, Bishop played 33 defensive snaps, which was nearly a 60-percent share.
Bishop registered four tackles during the game, including some that were particularly impressive. If you’re a slot defender and you want to stay on the field, make those tackles along the sideline. He is still coming into his game as a professional player, but that will take time.
What Bishop established during Week 1 was the fact that he has the skills and the poise required to do that job at a sufficiently high level. The rest will come with time, and right now he doesn’t have any obvious immediate challengers.
As far as I can see, Bishop has a clear path to starting the first eight games. After that is when things get interesting, Cameron Sutton set to return from a suspension. Can Bishop prove by then that he deserves to stay on the field, over Sutton? The Steelers may use the veteran for certain assignments, but the rookie may retain his primary post.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
