When we did our projection for the Pittsburgh Steelers starting defense for Week One of the NFL regular season, we plugged in undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. as the team’s starting nickel/slot cornerback.

And lo and behold, the first day of Steelers training camp and that is exactly where Bishop lined up on the rare occasions when the team ran an extra cornerback. This is just one practice but it’s very promising for his chance to do much more than just make the 53-man roster.

We had a fifth-round grade on Bishop in the 2024 NFL draft, so we were shocked when he went undrafted.  Bishop is an aggressive, confident coverage player who can line up at cornerback or safety.

The team had their inside cornerback all set up when they signed Cameron Sutton after his release from the Detroit Lions. But with Sutton set to sit out the first eight weeks of the season serving a suspension, Bishop is going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Story originally appeared on Steelers Wire