Rookie corner Beanie Bishop taking advantage of playing time with first-team defense

Beanie Bishop spent some of his down time in the six-week break before training camp analyzing videotape of former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton.

It was a fitting assignment.

Bishop is trying to join Hilton as an undrafted free agent who earned not just a roster spot but a starting job at slot corner with the Steelers.

“I wanted to see things he did well and try to add those things to my game,” Bishop said Friday after the Steelers conducted their second workout at Saint Vincent. “You always evolve as a player and take a piece of somebody’s game and try to tweak it for your own use.”

Bishop signed a free agent contract with the Steelers after going undrafted following his super senior season at West Virginia. That followed one season he spent at Minnesota and four at Western Kentucky.

At 24 years old, Bishop might be more polished than most rookie free agents, which is why he has taken to the slot cornerback spot so quickly. After taking some first-team reps during offseason workouts, Bishop was back in that spot Friday.

A day after the Steelers sporadically used a slot cornerback in practice, they featured the nickel package heavily, and Bishop drew most of the first-team assignments.

“I wouldn’t overanalyze that, guys,” coach Mike Tomlin said Friday. “Be careful there.”

A year ago at this time, Duke Dawson took first-team reps at slot corner, and he was an afterthought — not to mention unemployed — when the regular season arrived.

Bishop admitted to being surprised at his workload Friday when he frequently was matched up against slot receiver Calvin Austin.

“I feel like I had a pretty good OTAs and minicamp, so I knew I was going to get some reps,” he said. “This many? I wasn’t really sure about that.”

Bishop’s size — he is 5-foot-10, 184 pounds — makes him an ideal candidate to play in the slot. Bishop said he thrives on contact and can’t wait until the pads are donned by players Tuesday.

“I know I can run with guys in the league,” he said. “It’s about winning at the line and playing to my leverage and helping with things like that.”

In his lone year at West Virginia, Bishop took the majority of his snaps at outside corner, although he did move inside more frequently late in the season. The Steelers elected not to re-sign Chandon Sullivan, their primary slot corner last year, in free agency.

“They were in search of a nickel, and I felt like I could fill the role with my tackling abilities and being able to cover as well,” Bishop said. “Like coach Tomlin said, ‘It’s like little angry people running around.’ ”

Bishop prefers that nickname to the one he uses for his peers manning the outside spots: “tall, pretty corners.”

“The guys who just like to cover,” he said. “I like to cover and make tackles.”

Among Bishop’s competition for playing time at slot corner has been veteran strong safety DeShon Elliott. He has taken a handful of snaps inside when the Steelers bring in a fifth defensive back.

“He’s learning every day, asking questions every day,” Elliott said of Bishop. “He’s coming to my dorm room and bothering me every day. I love that guy. I think he’s going to be a great player if he keeps being persistent and wanting to learn and grow and listen to the coaches.”

First things first

For the second consecutive day, rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson was the first player to arrive on the field for practice. He wasn’t doing it to make a good first impression on fans or the coaching staff, he insisted.

“That wasn’t in my head,” said Wilson, the team’s second pick of the third round. “I don’t want to come out here (and be like), ‘Hey, I’m the first guy here.’ I have a routine I do every single day.”

Wilson sustained two ACL tears: one in high school and the other early in his college career. He estimates he spends 25 minutes daily warming up before practice. It involves stretching his ankles, knees and shoulders.

“I’m not going to cut that, so whatever time I need to do that,” Wilson offered as the reason for his early arrival. “I have a routine that I live by, and I’m going to do it whatever time I need to be here.”

Call to the Hall

The Steelers will announce the newest inductees into the franchise’s Hall of Honor during a ceremony Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be conducted at the Fred Rogers Center on the Saint Vincent campus.

The inaugural class of 27 members was inducted in 2017. The number of inductees increased to 53 last year with the addition of former players James Harrison, Ray Mansfield, Gerry Mullins and Aaron Smith.

Qualifications are a player must be retired for at least three seasons and have spent at least three seasons playing for the Steelers while having “noteworthy career highlights, records and achievements.”