Steelers embrace competitive matchups during early parts of camp

LATROBE, Pa. -- The first-day jitters are gone. But while it's still early in training camp, consistent matchups between offensive and defensive players are starting to stand out. 

Friday morning at Saint Vincent College was filled with competitive matchups between players who were looking to solidify their positions among the offensive and defensive hierarchies. Beanie Bishop Jr. and Calvin Austin III squared off multiple times in the slot, DeShon Elliott came up to cover Pat Freiermuth at times and Keanu Benton faced off against Zach Frazier in the trenches.

For Mike Tomlin, those competitive types of reps between players are what make this time of year so special. Players are looking to prove that they belong or prove that they are worthy of a certain spot on the depth chart. The more they succeed against a certain opponent, the greater their chance to move up and face someone new.

"I think that’s what’s interesting about this environment," Tomlin said. "You work ones on ones, twos on twos and you see consistency in terms of matchups. So guys are going to be challenged to win their matchup. If they win their matchup enough, they get elevated into the next group and get a new challenge. That’s what training camp is about."

On this day, the matchup between Bishop and Austin was the one that stood out the most. They both looked good at times and would seem to gain an edge until the other one stepped up and made a nice play. On one of the first plays of the day, Bishop defended Austin on a pass to his back shoulder toward the sideline. 

Later in practice, Austin caught a nice 30-35-yard pass from Justin Fields while being guarded by Bishop. Austin had to stretch out slightly for the catch, but Fields put it in the perfect spot, over Beanie's head and right in front of an approaching Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Throughout Friday's practice, Bishop got a lot of snaps with the first team and showcased his active hands and ability to break up passes. He was also able to stay with a speedy receiver like Austin and said garnering those first-team snaps has done a lot for his confidence moving into the rest of camp.

"I was just out there playing free with guys like Minkah, DeShon and Joey (Porter Jr.)," Bishop said. "Those guys are out there making calls and just making me comfortable so I don't have to think so much and just go out there and be able to play." 

Bishop has been one player that's been in consideration for the slot role that was left vacant after Cam Sutton was suspended for the first eight games of the season. The Steelers have also experimented with a three-safety package, using Fitzpatrick, Elliott and Damontae Kazee. Other players will surely get their opportunity as camp carries on as well.

During Tomlin's daily press conference, he even said he wouldn't overanalyze the number of snaps that Bishop took with the first team. However, that's not going to stop the undrafted free agent from taking advantage of the opportunity.

"Every day, I'm coming to compete for a spot, just like everyone else," Bishop said. "I just want to be able to take the most advantage of it."

While Bishop may be using the matchup against Austin to try and climb the depth chart, it's more of an iron-sharpens-iron situation for Elliott and Freiermuth. 

Elliott guarded the fourth-year tight end Friday when he split out wide and they had quite the battle on several different plays. The biggest one came when Freiermuth caught a 25-yard slot fade toward the sideline. Fields placed the ball over Elliott's hands and Freiermuth's back shoulder.

"It irritated me that he got it. But he's a great player, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," Elliott said. "We talk about techniques here and there but at the end of the day we're all striving for one goal and one direction, so we'll be okay. By the time Sundays come around and those games start, I think we'll both be at high levels playing our best football."

These types of matchups happened all over the field Friday as players consistently were on opposite sides of each other. Donte Jackson defended George Pickens on one of the first plays of the day. Jackson broke up the pass and while it was borderline pass interference, officials aren't present yet and those types of things are moot for the most part at this point in camp.

However, Pickens did come down with a nice catch between Jackson and Porter later in practice on his only other target of the day and took it for a score.

As you can see in the video, Jackson got turned around before Pickens leaped to make the catch in front of him:

Connor Heyward also matched up against Kazee at times and took a simple out route for a large gain early on. He received a lot of encouragement from Tomlin afterward. 

Lastly, Frazier and Benton found themselves opposite each other at times and both are players who are looking to climb the depth chart. Benton is a second-year player trying to solidify his spot on the defensive line and Frazier is competing for a starting spot as a rookie.

These types of competitive matchups make the early goings of training camp intriguing because while players are still learning their playbooks, their competitive nature shows when they are matched up against another high-caliber player. As Elliott alluded to, the competition makes them better and allows them to reach their best level by the time the season rolls around and it's still early. 

When the pads are put on Tuesday, watch out.