Beanie Bishop Jr. only needed six snaps in the Steelers’ season finale to achieve a rare feat in team history. Despite losing considerable playing time to Cameron Sutton, he managed to end his rookie season with four interceptions. In doing so, he is the first Steelers rookie this century to pick off at least four passes.
As a matter of fact, even three interceptions in the modern era has been rare for Steelers rookies. Artie Burns did it back in 2016, but he had been the only one for a while.
Scott Shields is the last player before Bishop to record four or more interceptions as a Steelers rookie. The former second-round draft pick managed to do that back in 1999—and he was virtually out of the league by 2001.
You wouldn’t have to go too far back for the next example, though. In 1992, Darren Perry intercepted six passes. That remains the Steelers’ modern-era rookie record for interceptions. But Bishop is the only modern-era undrafted rookie to pick off at least four passes.
The last Steelers undrafted rookie to intercept three or more passes before Beanie Bishop was Tony Dungy. The Minnesota product intercepted three passes for Chuck Noll in 1977 and then six a year later. But it wouldn’t be much longer after that he began his coaching career.
Bishop played 548 defensive snaps during his rookie season, or roughly half of the Steelers’ total. He added another 175 snaps on special teams. Between both, he registered 45 tackles, including two for loss, with half a sack, four interceptions, seven passes defensed, and a recovered fumble.
The Steelers cleared out much of their cornerback room from last season, but didn’t draft one. At least, they ended up converting sixth-rounder Ryan Watts to safety. As a result, Beanie Bishop spent much of the offseason, including nearly all of training camp, running as a starter.
While they re-signed Cameron Sutton, they knew he would be facing a suspension. They didn’t know it would be for eight games, initially, but they knew soon enough. Still, they made no serious moves to address their slot cornerback depth. Essentially, they decided to ride it out with Bishop—perhaps hoping he would earn the job.
Although they continued to play Bishop throughout the year, Sutton played more down the stretch. Many feel the move made the defense worse, and Sutton did seem to have some communication issues. As an undersized player, Bishop has some natural limitations. We have also seen his inexperience exposed, too, though he improved from the start of the year.
What happens next is up to him. I mentioned names like Artie Burns and Scott Shields and Tony Dungy in this article. None of them went on to have stellar playing careers. Will Beanie Bishop Jr. at least carve out a steady role for himself? It’s not like the interceptions are a bad thing. And he is more like Mike Hilton than Burns.
