Pittsburgh Steelers CB Beanie Bishop was not only able to crack Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent in 2024, but he became an impact player, starting six games and intercepting four passes as a rookie. Entering Year 2, Bishop has the inside track to be Pittsburgh’s starting slot corner, and he said he focused a lot on communication this offseason in an effort to play faster in 2025.
“It all goes into preparation. This offseason, I was able to, I learned the defense obviously my first year, but being able to take those next steps in communication and understanding what we’re going to before having the safety tell me what we have to run and what we’re playing on my side and things like that. So just being able to do that, it’ll help me play faster and understand,” Bishop said [via video by Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk3MW600ZzY&t=454s).
Bishop said he also spent time watching nickel corners around the league, including Mike Hilton, Taron Johnson and Kenny Moore to study what they do and add to his game.
Down the stretch, communication was the secondary’s biggest weakness, and it’s an area where the entire defensive backfield needs to show improvement. For Bishop, it’s a little more of a learning curve as a rookie, and he’s looking to eliminate any situations where his communication was lackluster and where he may have needed additional help from a teammate.
Knowing what he’s supposed to do without thinking too much about it should help him play more free and loose, which in turn will help him play faster and more natural. Bishop also said he lost body fat this offseason and looked to add muscle, and potentially being a little lighter could improve his speed and help him run with some of the speedy slot receivers in the NFL.
Communication [is a key for Pittsburgh’s defense this season](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/06/if-you-dont-want-to-do-it-you-aint-gonna-be-here-steelers-defense-emphasizing-communication/), and Minkah Fitzpatrick really put an emphasis on it as an area the team needs to work on. Even if that’s the only area of Bishop’s game that improves, it’ll be huge for his chances of starting and it’ll likely lead to improvement. Getting more comfortable in the defense and more familiar with what he’s doing should be a natural help but really focusing and honing in on communication is going to benefit him if he’s able to show real improvement in that area this season.