PITTSBURGH --Beanie Bishop came into Pittsburgh Steelers’ OTAs with a transformed body and a mindset to hold onto his starting slot cornerback role. Yet, he did name one player as a threat to his role and someone who has stuck out.
Seventh-round rookie and former Harrisburg High School star Donte Kent is something to circle in that battle. Bishop notably called Kent ‘dynamic,’ and he has already earned the respect of his teammates.
Kent is a freak athlete with ridiculous ball production in his college career. Over five years, he had two interceptions but 47 passes defensed. He added four forced fumbles over that stretch.
“I just have a dawg mentality,” Kent said. “That ball is my ball. My mindset is I’m going to go make a play on the football every pass thrown my way.”
Kent remarked about his upbringing with three older brothers. He is the youngest of them, and his older brothers play professional football elsewhere.
His brother, Desmond, played at Robert Morris, while his other brother, Ronald, is in the Canadian Football League on the British Columbia Lions.
Kent was a high school wrestler, too, which he remarked allows him to be an expert ‘form tackler.’ Most of the time offensive linemen or defensive linemen are wrestlers, not cornerbacks, but that is a unique advantage Kent feels he has, too.
He confirmed he is working mostly in the slot for now, but he feels he could play inside or outside. On top of that, Kent is an excellent kick returner who will factor into that.
“Most of my time is in the nickel right now,” Kent said. “I think I can play inside or outside, but I feel comfortable in (the nickel). We’ll see where it goes.”
Kent is a name to circle as things develop in this slot cornerback competition. Bishop has others to worry about, like Sebastian Castro and D’Shawn Jamison, but Kent looks like his main competition right now.