"I like watching film of Mike Hilton and seeing how he played his last year here," Bishop said. "Just so I can see, 'OK, this is what I need to do to be able to be successful. This is how I can make the team.' Watching his film gives me a better understanding of what they expect out of the nickels here."

One of the finer points of playing anywhere in the Steelers secondary is communication, so Bishop is constantly trying to improve at picking up on the offense's checks at the line of scrimmage and knowing when to follow a receiver in motion or pass him off. There will be times he has to play tight, press coverage, and others when he's dropping in zone to a part of the field that's not always familiar to him given his background.

Hitting those blitzes in stride is just a small part of the process. But Bishop did enough to earn more reps throughout the spring, even getting some first-team snaps by the end of minicamp, though the signing of Cam Sutton has changed his odds since the draft.

"Beanie in the slot's been good. He is learning, just like most young guys, and so there's a curve in there," Austin said. "There's going to be some things he's good at and some things he's not so good at. But his mentality is good, his work ethic is good, he's a sharp kid and so he's taken to that. I'll be interested and really excited to see what happens when we get to Latrobe and we can really kind of [see], hey, is he going to be able to cover these bigger receivers? Can he get down the big backs? All the things like that."

Much like Bishop, Watts is leaning on the experienced defensive backs around him as he gets his feet wet in a new role. At 6-foot-3, 208 pounds with a 4.53-second 40-yard dash time, many draft analysts projected Watts would move to safety with his plus size and middling speed.

It's serendipitous that his locker is right next to DeShon Elliott, signed to be the Steelers' starting strong safety this season and a fellow Texas product. They're in the same corner as Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee and now Sutton, so building chemistry should be an organic endeavor.

"DeShon took me under his wing the first day. Shoot, even Minkah and Kazee did, too, so I feel like I've got some great vets," Watts said. "I've heard about other people in the league how they might not have good vets, or guys who keep to themselves, but I don't have that problem."

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Elliott is a good mentor for Watts to have nearby. They share similar builds in addition to an alma mater and both were sixth-round picks. Elliott is trying to get to know Watts off the field, as well, when he's not showing him the ropes between the lines.

"Once he [came] here I already knew it was my job to make sure he does the right things and moves the right way," Elliott said. "He's got those pillars to be a great NFL player when it comes to being able to understand the game. He's a naturally smart player. He's a great kid. He wants to learn. He's willing to learn. He communicates well. And he's a big dude.

"He sits right next to me in meetings, always asks questions, very engaged in practice and even in walk-throughs, whether he's getting mental reps or actual reps. I know the coaches love him here. I think he can be a great player in the NFL if he continues to work his butt off and make sure he doesn't get to freakin' 230 [pounds]."

At that point, Watts would be bordering on linebacker size, and it doesn't seem like the Steelers have that in mind for him. But they wasted little time in moving him from cornerback to safety, albeit keeping the door open for his college position.

In fact, Austin immediately mentioned Watts being able to utilize his cornerback background to be an asset at safety. And as Austin sees it, Watts has size and length like Joey Porter Jr. or Cory Trice, but potentially with more physicality.

"He could be a guy as a safety that can come down and maybe play on a hash [against a] receiving tight end, or he could play on the slot," Austin said. "He can do a lot of different things."

At this juncture of their careers, Bishop and Watts need to make their names on special teams as much as anything. But there might be room for both of them if they can specialize in their new spots.

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