Training camp is the time of year when guys start to make a name for themselves. For most teams, almost all of their roster spots are already secured. It’s mostly the depth guys battling it out to see who can earn their place. Nothing is guaranteed to undrafted guys and players taken on the last day of the draft. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve had a string of players deliver strong performances in camp and the preseason that have earned them a spot with the team. This year, it looks like slot corner Beanie Bishop Jr. could be the next in line.
Bishop was an older player coming out of last year’s draft, spending six years playing college football, but it seems like all that experience is paying off for him. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown spoke Thursday about what he said to Bishop and Zach Frazier, another former WVU player.
“I think the biggest thing on those guys is they’re there for a reason,” Brown said via BlueGoldNew.com on YouTube. “That’s what I tried to communicate. ‘We believe in you, the team that has you on that roster believes in you. Don’t give them a reason to say no. Everybody in the National Football League is looking for a reason to say no so they can get their roster down as camp progresses. Don’t give them a reason to say no.’”
That advice sounds like it’s geared toward Bishop more than it is Frazier. Frazier was drafted in the second round, so there’s almost no scenario in which he gets cut before the season starts. Bishop, on the other hand, is an undersized player at a position where size couldn’t be more important. Luckily for him, the Steelers have a history of smaller players excelling in the slot. Bishop just has to prove he belongs.
Reports out of camp have indicated that he’s done exactly that. With Cam Sutton suspended for the first half of the season, the Steelers are in desperate need of a slot corner. It’s the biggest hole on their defense, and for now, it looks like Bishop is in the driver’s seat for that position.
In that same interview, Brown spoke more specifically about Bishop and what kind of player he knows him to be.
“I’m zero surprise with Beanie. He was here most of summer, as soon as they got done with their voluntary workouts and their mandatory OTAs,” Brown said. “Maybe he doesn’t check off the size, but he’s a football player. I’m not surprised. I fully expect him to make the roster. I fully think he’ll contribute. He’s a guy that you’re gonna love to coach.”
That is about as strong of an endorsement a player could get from their former head coach. Bishop and Brown were only together for one year, so to hear the coach have so many positive things to say about Bishop shows how much of an impression he made in Morgantown. It’s one thing to talk up your former players. It’s another to still be ready to go to war for a guy you only coached for one season.
That says a lot about Bishop as a man and as a player. Even though he’s the front-runner for the slot corner job, he can’t get comfortable at all. Teams owe nothing to undrafted players, and if the Steelers think they can sign a veteran to replace him, they will. Like Brown says, he can’t give the Steelers any reason to say no.
As camp progresses, it will become clearer what the team thinks of Bishop, with the preseason being his true test. If he can continue to prove his worth, he could be the next Mike Hilton for the Steelers. Since Hilton left, the team has been trying to replace that kind of production from the slot-corner position. Bishop might finally give them that solution, if he continues to work hard.
