Beanie Bishop Could be Steelers Standout Slot Cornerback

The Pittsburgh Steelers signing West Virginia defensive back Beanie Bishop Jr. might be one of the more underrated moves they made in their draft process. He is one of those players who will be a slot cornerback for them. He can come in on day one and compete for that job. Bishop is known as someone who can bring the heat off the edge and play with a chip on their shoulder. You don’t have to ask anyone else, just ask Bishop.

“I’ve always been doubted,” Bishop said to Steelers Now at the Shrine Bowl. “You know, I feel like I’m just a dawg. I play with a chip on my shoulder to prove something every game.”

According to Chad Reuter of NFL Network, Bishop is considered the best cornerback among this year’s undrafted free agents.

Upon his arrival in Morgantown, Beanie Bishop instantly displayed a high level of confidence, but his spirit only increased after proving his true potential as a Mountaineer. He’s then put that on display at the East-West Shrine Bowl, as his focus is on impressing NFL scouts enough to be drafted. Bishop was one of the standouts at the Big 12’s Pro Day.

He ran a 4.39 forty and a 4.15 20-yard shuttle, which would have been among the best times at the NFL Combine. Given his projection in the slot, the Steelers had to take note of Bishop’s level of testing. But it was more than that. Bishop’s ball-hawking skills stood out on tape, too, and he earned an All-American selection as a result of that.

“I wanted to show that I’m elite when the ball is in the air. Whenever the ball is in the air, it’s just as much mine as it is theirs (the receivers),” Bishop said of his 2023 season.

And to that end, Bishop picked off four passes and wrecked games for opposing quarterbacks all throughout the year, most notably getting to Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec in WVU’s Backyard Brawl win and recording two interceptions on the road at UCF. He also helped keep the Mountaineers at the top of college football in ball-hawk rate with 20 pass deflections.

Steelers general manager Omar Khan recently discussed how the team is excited to have Bishop on the roster during an interview on the DVE Morning Show.