The Pittsburgh Steelers had many questions about the roster going into the 2024 season. There were obvious holes at positions like wide receiver, but the area with the biggest concern was slot corner. The Steelers brought back Cameron Sutton during the offseason, but he was suspended for the first eight games of the season. He will return after the bye week in Week 9, but undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop Jr. has been holding down the fort at slot corner to begin the 2024 campaign.
Bishop has been a concern for the Steelers at times. He has been picked on by veteran quarterbacks, and has had his fair share of bad performances. Despite struggling against the Dallas Cowboys and giving up touchdowns to the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts, Bishop has remained the starter throughout his rookie year.
The coaching staff clearly believes in him, not bringing in any external help. Bishop appeared on Friday's episode of The Insiders, where he was asked about being undrafted and what his experience was like finding out he would be going to Pittsburgh.
"After the Steelers' last pick was up, I cut the draft off, phone was going dead, just left my phone in the house. Went back into the house after it was over, had a whole bunch of missed calls from my agents, texts, missed call from Mike Tomlin. So that's how I knew."
Bishop was disappointed about not getting drafted, although many players have said going undrafted is better than being drafted late. This is because the player has his choice of where to go. It's free agency before even stepping on an NFL field, and agents even have some more wiggle room when it comes to negotiating contracts. Pittsburgh knew it had a solid chance to land Bishop, which explains the missed call from Head Coach Mike Tomlin.
It was kind of a bold decision from Bishop to not be right next to his phone during one of the most important times of his life, but everything has seemed to work out. It's a bit bizarre Bishop wasn't drafted in the first place. He was an All-American during his last year of college football at West Virginia, even leading the nation in pass breakups.
Very rarely does an undrafted free agent impress enough to make the final 53-man roster and be counted on to make an impact. Due to the state of Pittsburgh's slot corner position, Bishop seemed to be penciled in as the starter as soon as he arrived in Latrobe. There was some competition at the position, but it has been Bishop's to lose since the start of training camp.
Bishop finally burst onto the scene in Week 7 when he picked off Aaron Rodgers twice during Pittsburgh's 37-15 win. He even almost returned one for a touchdown as he was brought down at the one-yard line. Both of his interceptions were turning points in the game, and hopefully his success continues.
Steelers Are Expecting Sutton To Be Back After The Bye Week
Sutton was suspended for eight games prior to the start of the 2024 season, but Pittsburgh knew the defensive back would be facing some sort of punishment from the NFL when signing him. If Bishop can play well again against the New York Giants in Week 8, he would be giving the coaching staff a tough decision to make about who should be the starter at slot corner.
Sutton has missed a lot of time, so regardless, the two should be expected to split snaps while the veteran slowly works his way back into the swing of things. Bishop was one of the best stories in the NFL in Week 7; now he will have to build on that success as Pittsburgh will be on the national stage once against in Week 8.
