BISHOP ON THE CHESS BOARD
In his time at three stops in college football (Western Kentucky, Minnesota, West Virginia), Beanie Bishop played a little bit of everywhere in the defensive secondary, with career snaps at outside cornerback (1,360), slot cornerback (250) and safety (215) per Pro Football Focus.
With the Steelers in their base defense, Bishop was gathered with the safeties, but where he expects to make an impact is as a slot cornerback in the Nickel and Dime sub packages.
“I feel that’s a spot that I can play in and that’s a need for the team,” Bishop said, something that he and the Steelers discussed even before the signed in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ depth chart at slot cornerback is fairly thin, with Josiah Scott from last year’s practice squad and Bishop seeming right now to be the most likely options on the roster. That’s not a problem for Bishop, despite his status as an undrafted free agent, and he said he’s used to surprising people who have overlooked him.
“Coming out of high school, I wasn’t a highly recruited guy,” Bishop said. “I only had one FBS offers. I kind of took the same approach of being a smaller guy and a guy that was kind of overlooked and have always played with a chip on my shoulder.”
FUTURE GREEN DOT?
When the Steelers lined up on defense, it was third-round rookie Payton Wilson that was calling the plays in the huddle to get the rest of the squad together.
The Steelers do have one experienced linebacker in camp, in Tyler Murray, who spent time with the team last season, but they trusted the youngster to have a solid grip on the playbook on his first day.
“It’s been super cool,” Wilson said. “It’s a lot different than what we did in college. It’s kind of awesome to have been learning on the fly. Coach [Aaron] Curry is one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around. They way he simplifies and explains it, having played it before, it’s just special. He really simplifies it for me to really be able to play fast.”
ALREADY A LEADER
Center Zach Frazier has an advantage over most of the rookies, who traveled to Pittsburgh from all over the country for the three-day camp. His home is just 90 miles or so down Interstate 79 in Fairmont, West Virginia.So when he drove in, he gave fellow offensive line rookies Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick a ride to work.
Center is naturally a leadership position along the offensive line, but for now, Frazier will likely keep it to small gestures like a ride before he tries on a full leadership role.
“I think it’s my job to take care of myself first and make sure all my ducks are in a row before I try to start leading others,” Frazier said.
POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE
Sixth-round pick Ryan Watts was not in attendance for the workout on Friday, as he was in Austin for his graduation ceremony at the University of Texas.
Watts is one of the rookies with some positional flexibility, having playing mostly outside cornerback at Texas, but with some in the pre-draft process considering him a safety. He is expected to be in attendance for the second practice session on Saturday, so we’ll get a first look at where he lines up then.
WORKING WITH A LEGEND
Former Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier was in attendance on Friday, and helped running backs coach Eddie Faulkner take his young backs through their drills.
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