Despite the best efforts of Beanie Bishop Jr., the Pittsburgh Steelers still have a question mark at nickel cornerback. The rookie college free agent intercepted four passes and recovered a fumble, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The Steelers played him a lot less in the second half of the season when they had more options.
“You still probably need a nickel [cornerback]”, Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly said on Kaboly + Mack. “They’ve been struggling trying to replace Mike Hilton for six, seven years now. They haven’t been able to find him. I don’t know if Beanie Bishop fits that role of exactly what you want him to be. A three-down type of guy as a potential nickel. I don’t know if you just go out and draft a nickel, though”.
The Steelers, of course, didn’t intentionally go into the 2024 season with an undrafted rookie as their best option. The slot cornerback is one of the few positions where you’re more likely to get away with that, granted. But it’s fair to question whether Bishop has the complete package needed, especially within the Steelers’ defense.
“There’s a reason why Cam Sutton kept getting playing time at the end of the year, even though he was screwing up”, Kaboly said. “Because they must not have trusted or believed in Beanie Bishop. Why else would you play him, then”?
Last offseason, the Steelers gutted their cornerback room, including slot options. They added budget journeymen like Grayland Arnold, among others, but they didn’t make the final cut. Their last gambit was bringing back Cameron Sutton, who had lost his job in Detroit after a domestic abuse arrest. After serving an eight-game suspension, he began eating into Bishop’s playing time.
After Week 8, Beanie Bishop only hit 50 percent of the defensive snaps twice, including Sutton’s first game back. He played most of the game in Week 14, but that was due to injury. Over the final two games, he saw the field for the Steelers’ defense for just six snaps. And he played just one snap in the Wild Card game. Despite Cameron Sutton having his head used as a basketball by Isaiah Likely.
The highlight of Bishop’s rookie season, of course, was against the New York Jets. He intercepted two Aaron Rodgers passes, the first picks of his career, and Rodgers graciously signed them. While his first interception was a great individual play, the second came off what should have been a deep completion over his head. Most of his interceptions came off ricochets, in fact, but there’s something to be said for seizing opportunities.
Bishop certainly did that during his rookie season, but what do the Steelers plan for him in 2025? It’s likely that they will pursue other options for the nickel cornerback role. After all, they turned to Sutton at the end of the season for that, and they’re unlikely to retain him. That leaves Bishop the next man up again, but they have all offseason to address that.
