The Pittsburgh Steelers took part in their latest practice on Sunday, which was also their first practice since the preseason opener on Friday night against the Houston Texans. Coming off that, Pittsburgh shuffled things a bit when it came to the first team on both sides of the ball.
Per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Steelers defensive back Grayland Arnold saw reps with the first-team defense as the slot cornerback during seven shots and 11-on-11 drills.
Previously, rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop had done most of the work with the first team there, but he had some issues in the preseason Week 1, which is what likely spurred on Pittsburgh's desire to give someone else a look.
Bishop allowed completions on all three targets thrown his way, giving up 31 yards and a passer rating of 109.7, according to Pro Football Focus. Clearly Bishop doesn't have the slot cornerback job locked up yet.
Arnold wasn't the only member of the secondary to get a bump up. Second-year cornerbacks Cory Trice and Darius Rush both saw first-team reps on the boundary as Donte Jackson got the day off, with Trice getting the majority of them, according to Greg Macafee of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Of course, it's a very different circumstance considering Jackson is fully expected to be the starter, but still a great opportunity for both players.
Trice, who missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, saw one target thrown his way in his preseason debut and it went for a two-yard loss. Rush was targeted just once, also, and gave up five yards on the play.
Last but certainly not least, 2024 second-round pick and center Zach Frazier got a look with the first-team offense after veteran Nate Herbig got some reps in, according to Alan Saunders of Steelers Now.
Herbig's first preseason game was marred by two bad exchanges with Justin Fields. He did, however, play well in pass protection with a 76.2 grade and zero pressures, per PFF, although his run-blocking wasn't great.
Meanwhile, Frazier came into the game and immediately started moving bodies and opening up holes in the run game. He had the highest run-blocking grade (72.2) of all Steelers offensive linemen and was spotless in pass protection, posting a 73.0 grade with no pressures.
As is the case at slot cornerback, the center competition isn't locked up yet after what we saw from both centers in preseason Week 1. Those two positions will be ones to monitor over the next few weeks.
