Player: CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While the media focuses on where Beanie Bishop Jr. wipes his feet, the second-year player is gearing up for 2025. After losing reps in the second half of last season, he is highly motivated to ensure that doesn’t happen again. He has come in this offseason with a renewed focus and a newfound professionalism. And, evidently, with first dibs on securing the nickel defender role.
Second-year DB Beanie Bishop Jr. spent most of his time with Steelers media on Wednesday answering questions about a short video he posted showing himself wiping his feet on the Pitt logo. At one point late in the scrum, a team PR representative had to ask reporters to start asking Steelers-related questions. On those outlets, you will see articles about Bishop focusing on that, rather than his play.
Of course, the media has limited access to what the Steelers are doing in OTAs, to be fair. But from what we do know, Biship appears to be taking all of the first-team reps at nickel cornerback. Given that the Steelers demoted him in the second half of last season, that is not insignificant.
While they did not re-sign Cameron Sutton, the Steelers did sign Brandin Echols and Juan Thornhill, and drafted Donte Kent. But Beanie Bishop Jr. is, I imagine, the favorite to regain his job. While Thornhill can play in the slot, he is a safety first. Echols has NFL experience, but Bishop may be better. Kent is a rookie via the seventh round, and they drafted him primarily for special teams.
When actually addressing his profession, Bishop told reporters that he lost fat this offseason. He pinpointed numerous areas of his game in which he is focusing on improving. And he talked about just how much more comfortable and ahead of the game he feels going into his second season.
It’s not uncommon for players to make a big jump after their rookie year, because the game slows down. It seems Beanie Bishop Jr. already sees that happening for him. And he keeps his ears open, always willing to pick up any tips from the veterans to improve his game.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. The dust is settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another, or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
