The Pittsburgh Steelers moved on from Beanie Bishop Jr. for the second time this year, officially releasing him from the practice squad this week. An undrafted free agent a year ago who ended up finding a starting role in the slot, his time in Pittsburgh appears to be over.
Simply put, this is a huge testament to just how ignored the slot role was in Pittsburgh for so many years.
For the longest time, the Steelers' slot defender was a strength of this team. Mike Hilton became a force for the defense while Cameron Sutton was a savvy replacement. After both had left, though, the slot position was ignored.
It is atypical for an undrafted rookie to come in and be given a starting job, but that is essentially what happened with Bishop. Now, just one year later, he is without a job after spending half the season on the practice squad.
Beanie Bishop’s release is a damaging testament to the Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive philosophy
Bishop was productive at West Virginia, but his slot-dependent role and lack of a high ceiling caused him to tumble out of the draft. While unproven, Bishop’s rookie season looked good considering he snagged four interceptions.
When you dig in deeper, his play wasn’t that great.
None of his interceptions were of that high of quality. He still deserves credit for them, but they were relatively easy as far as NFL interceptions go.
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His coverage was average, and his run defense and physicality were pretty poor. None of this was shocking for an undrafted rookie, but he was a player who you felt like needed improvement, or at least competition, in year two.
Pittsburgh went above and beyond that, signing Brandon Echols and trading for Jalen Ramsey. Both became the de facto slot defenders instantly, while even rookie Donte Kent was seeing snaps over Bishop in camp.
This caused Bishop to miss the roster, and while he circled back to the practice squad, that tenure has since ended.
Considering how much you relied on him as a rookie, it shows just how ignored the slot role was in Pittsburgh. For a team that wanted a dominant defense, this seems like a major oversight.
It feels mildly disappointing that Bishop’s time never materialized much in Pittsburgh despite some flashy stats. The bigger concern comes with how willing the Steelers were to ignore a starting position for so long. That was resolved this offseason, but it makes the time between Hilton and Ramsey that much more frustrating.