Beanie Bishop Is Watching Film on Ex-Steelers CB Mike Hilton
PITTSBURGH — Probably encouraged by Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Beanie Bishop revealed at minicamp that he’s been watching film on former Steelers cornerback and current Cincinnati Bengal Mike Hilton. Hilton has become the gold standard for slot corners. Like Bishop, Hilton went undrafted, too.
“Mike Hilton, that’s kind of the prototype for the slot corner,” Bishop said. “I’ll go and watch some of his tape and things like that. Guys tell me to watch his tape and just go look at how they want the nickel to play here.
Bishop turned heads during the Steelers’ offseason program. He’s a player to keep an eye on in training camp.
Cam Sutton is projected to be the Steelers’ starter in the slot, but it’s likely that he’ll face at least a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. Bishop could fill the slot role until Sutton returns.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan spoke glowingly of Bishop during an interview on the DVE Morning Show in May.
“Yeah, Beanie Bishop. I can’t tell you how excited we were to have an opportunity to sign Beanie Bishop after the draft. We had him here for a visit. When he was here, we talked about our defense and how he would fit in. We really felt like he was a guy that could come in here and compete,” Khan said, via SteelersNation.com.
Bishop ran a 4.39 forty and a 4.15 20-yard shuttle at his pro day, which would have been among the best times at the NFL Combine. At West Virginia, Bishop was known to be a ball-hawk, leading the nation in passes defended (24) and pass breakups (20) and ranked second in forced incompletions (17).
“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 explained when asked what he wanted to show during the 2023 season. “And to that regard, 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.”
Nick Farabaugh contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
Read This Next
