Will Beanie Bishop Jr. begin OTAs as the Steelers’ starting nickel cornerback—and if so, will he stay there?
Beanie Bishop Jr. achieved a rare feat for the Steelers last year, starting a season opener as a rookie UDFA. But he didn’t finish the season as the starter, and they are challenging him for that job this year. While they did not re-sign Cameron Sutton, they did bring in veteran Brandin Echols.
So when the Steelers field a veteran defense for the first time during OTAs, will Bishop or Echols line up as the nickel? I don’t know that it’s a very crucial question, but I know one thing about the answer. It would be a lot more telling if Echols is playing ahead of Bishop than the other way around.
If the Steelers play Beanie Bishop with the ones, they could just cite continuity, familiarity and all that fun stuff. Now, if they start Echols, they could appeal to his veteran experience, even if it’s relatively minor. Either way, you know Mike Tomlin will tell you not to read into snaps and basically anything you see or hear.
But it’s not like we have anything else to go by right now, and these are just the first data points. Obviously, whether it’s Beanie Bishop or Brandon Echols, whoever lines up more with the 1s in OTAs isn’t guaranteed a starting job. And for all we know, it might not wind up being either one of them.
When the Steelers signed Bishop last year, he met with a decent amount of fanfare. Even the front office spoke of him highly, atypical of undrafted players, as if the Steelers had used a selection on him. That enthusiasm carried all the way through the offseason, and even the first half of the regular season.
But then when the Steelers got Cameron Sutton back from suspension, that was nearly it. Beanie Bishop’s snap counts began to plummet. By the end of the season, he was hardly playing at all.
We don’t really know how much that says about what they thought of Bishop or if they really respected Sutton. But the result is the same. During the first half of the season, they never acted like he was just a placeholder for Sutton. Sure, he had his struggles, but he improved over time. And Sutton had his struggles, too, yet he never lost playing time. Now it’s Echols as the veteran in the room, so will Bishop have to step aside again?
The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. While they ultimately traded George Pickens, they have other decisions to make. The 2025 NFL Draft class is now behind us, so most of the roster construction is complete.
But we still have a long offseason ahead for Steelers football, or football in shorts. Certain will-he-or-won’t-he situations remain in play, which we continue to monitor. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go.
