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The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t draft a cornerback before Day 3 of the 2024 NFL draft. But they selected one in the sixth round and according to NFL.com’s Chad Reuter, the Steelers landed the very best cornerback still available after the draft ended — West Virginia’s Beanie Bishop Jr.
Reuter ranked the top 27 cornerbacks who went undrafted in the 2024 class. He rated Bishop at No. 1.
Steelers.com’s Teresa Varley reported on April 27, about an hour after the last selection in the 2024 draft, that the Steelers signed Bishop.
“Bishop played one season for the Mountaineers, recording 67 tackles, 54 of them solo stops, and four interceptions while starting 13 games,” Varley wrote. “He earned first team All-American honors (Walter Camp and FWAA) and second team All-American honors (Associated Press, Sporting News, AFCA). He was also selected All-Big 12 Conference first team.”
Prior to West Virginia, Bishop spent four seasons at Western Kentucky and one year with Minnesota. Playing games in parts of six college seasons, Bishop posted 170 total tackles, 7 interceptions and 29 pass defenses in 57 contests.
Steelers Depot’s Matthew Marczi and Steelers Now’s Nick Farabaugh were highly complimentary of Pittsburgh adding what Reueter labeled as the best undrafted cornerback of the 2024 draft class.
“Bishop lacks size at 5-9, 180 pounds, but he pops off the table,” Marczi wrote. “He certainly did last season with four interceptions and a nation-leading 24 pass defenses.
“The Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin always covet such players with ball skills.”
Marczi added that Bishop has limitations as a tackler and in coverage, but that he’s “a player to watch this offseason.”
Steelers Turn Heads Adding Top-Rated Undrafted CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Undrafted free agents are obviously not going to be perfect prospects. There has to be a reason they went undrafted.
But as far as finding value for the position at the conclusion of the draft, the Steelers appear to have done that with the Bishop signing.
“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,” Farabaugh wrote. “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.”
Steelers CB Depth Chart At Conclusion of NFL Draft
After signing Bishop and drafting Texas cornerback Ryan Watts in the sixth round, the Steelers have 10 cornerbacks on their roster. But even with that depth, the Steelers have lost a lot of cornerback experience from last year’s roster.
Veterans Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, Chandon Sullivan, Elijah Riley and James Pierre all left in free agency. Those four cornerbacks combined to play 2,320 defensive snaps in 2023.
That’s a lot of playing time the Steelers will have to replace. To do that, it’s not out of the question that the Steelers could bring back one of those veterans on a new contract.
Wallace and Pierre have already signed with new teams. But re-signing Peterson or possibly Sullivan on team-friendly deal could be on the table.
Whether the Steelers consider doing that will likely depend on how Pittsburgh’s inexperienced slot cornerbacks perform over the summer. Bishop is expected to compete with Darius Rush and Josiah Scott at nickel this offseason.
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