In the preseason, when a roster consists of 90 players, players on offense and defense can share a number, and undrafted rookie CB Beanie Bishop Jr. shared No. 30 with RB Jaylen Warren. Now that the roster currently consists of 53 players and Bishop has been added to the team, he is changing his jersey number to No. 31, he told reporters Wednesday, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Bishop is currently expected to fill the slot corner position for the Steelers. He is Pittsburgh’s only 2024 undrafted free agent to make the roster, as he beat out Thomas Graham Jr. and others in the battle for a roster spot.
Since he has secured a spot on the roster, he will have to increase his number to 31. Last season, he wore number 11 at West Virginia, but that number is also unavailable as it currently belongs to WR Van Jefferson.
The last player to wear No. 31 for the Steelers is S Keanu Neal, who wore the number last season. Mike Hilton, a player Bishop said he studied, also wore the number in 2017. The most famous No. 31 in team history is Hall of Fame safety Donnie Shell, who wore it from 1974 to 1987.
Hopefully, Bishop can put together a strong rookie season like Hilton did in 2017 and potentially become the team’s slot corner of the future. It’s a position the Steelers could potentially try outside the organization for, but for now, Bishop’s job is secure and he could very well start in the slot in Week 1 if the team doesn’t make any additions, which would be rare for an undrafted free agent rookie in Pittsburgh.
