Of all the seventh-round rookies expected to surprise Steelers fans at training camp in 2023, Cory Trice Jr., the cornerback from Purdue, was at the top of the list.

With his size and speed, which compared favorably to Joey Porter Jr.–the 2023 second-round pick from Penn State who wasn’t expected to surprise anyone heading into his rookie training camp–the anticipation for Trice was so great that he was deemed ineligible for the Kelvin Beachum Award (an annual trophy named after the Steelers 2012 seventh-round pick from SMU who actually did surprise people by going on to have a productive career as an NFL tackle).

Unfortunately, Trice suffered a torn ACL on the first day of padded practices, which ended his rookie season before it even began.

With the Steelers 2024 training camp just underway at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Trice is back and healthy and looking for a second chance to surprise some folks at the cornerback spot.

And there is a chance for him to do that thanks to the eight-game suspension of veteran Cam Sutton to start the season. Also, Donte Jackson, the veteran corner the Steelers acquired in a trade that sent receiver Diontae Johnson to the Panthers in March, will be a free agent next year.

Trice will indeed have some surprise-capable competition at cornerback during his second training camp–including Beanie Bishop, an undrafted rookie from West Virginia who has already won this year’s Shakur Brown Award; and Darius Rush, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft who was the Colts version of Trice before he was waived and wound up with Chiefs, who mostly made him stay on their practice squad before Pittsburgh scooped him up last October.

I am excited about Bishop, who led the nation in pass breakups with 24 a year ago. However, he’s 5-9 and 182 pounds so he might be more suited for the slot position. As for Rush, a player with similar size to Trice–6-2, 198 pounds–and better speed–4.36–we’ve already received a sample size of his abilities at the professional level. Sure, it was a small sample size, but enough to form an opinion about what he may or may not be capable of.

But we’ve seen nothing from Trice, and that makes him intriguing. With a great combination of size (6-2 and 206 pounds) and speed (4.47–pre-injury), does Trice have potential that has yet to be untapped due to injury and lack of experience? His NFL.com Draft Profile projected him to be selected in the fourth or fifth round, which helped to explain why folks were so excited about him heading into last year’s camp.

However, the ACL tear combined with a serious knee injury suffered in college makes you wonder if Trice is currently the front-runner to receive the 2023-2024 Senquez Golson Award.

I hope Trice does “surprise” us during this year’s training camp. I want him to make a strong case to become a future starting outside corner opposite Peezy Jr.

Picture this: The Cory Trice Jr. Award, an honor handed out annually to the Steelers youngster who surprised us when we were expecting him to surprise us.

That would be much better than Cory Trice receiving an award named after Senquez Golson.