# Bishop Fitzgerald
**Bishop Fitzgerald** (born 2003) is an American professional football safety for the [Detroit Lions](https://www.edgepedia.org/detroit-lions) of the [National Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-football-league) (NFL). A high school quarterback who went under-recruited, he converted to safety at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, played two seasons at NC State, and transferred to the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california) (USC), where a five-interception 2025 season made him a consensus All-American before he signed with the Tennessee Titans as a rookie free agent after the 2026 NFL Draft.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) • [2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2003, Woodbridge, Virginia[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) |
| Vitals | 5 feet 11 inches, 205 pounds; 4.55-second 40-yard dash at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine[4](https://www.nfl.com/players/bishop-fitzgerald/) |
| College stops | Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College (2021), NC State (2023–24), USC (2025)[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) |
| 2025 season at USC | 10 games, 51 tackles, 5 interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 86 interception yards[5](https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/bishop-fitzgerald-1.html) |
| Honors | Consensus All-American (AP, FWAA, Walter Camp); Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist; first-team All-Big Ten[2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565) |
| PFF grade, 2025 | 90.3 overall, 7th among 910 qualified safeties; 90.4 coverage grade, 8th[6](https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/Bishop%20Fitzgerald/176010) |
| NFL entry | Signed by Tennessee as a rookie free agent after the 2026 draft; waived in August 2026, signed to Pittsburgh's practice squad, then signed by Detroit in September 2026[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565) |
## Early life and high school
Fitzgerald attended Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, where he starred at quarterback and safety. During the abbreviated spring 2021 campaign, his senior year, he earned All-Cardinal District offensive player of the year honors after accumulating 1,793 all-purpose yards and 28 total touchdowns across six games; the squad went undefeated in the regular season before falling in the state playoffs.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) Draft coverage credits him with leading the program to its first district title since 1994.[2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) His recruitment was limited because the school did not field a team during the fall of his senior year (2020), and with the pandemic shifting Virginia's schedule and most recruiting classes already set, college offers at quarterback dried up.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) • [2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) He also ran track, competing in the 55-meter dash, 100 meters, 200 meters, and long jump.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) His mother named him after [Tupac Shakur](https://www.edgepedia.org/tupac-shakur)'s character in the 1992 film *[Juice](https://www.edgepedia.org/juice-1992-film)*.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career)
## College career
**Coffeyville Community College.** Fitzgerald landed at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College in 2021, switched to safety, and played six games as a freshman that year, recording seven tackles.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) He earned NJCAA first-team All-American and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022, and scouting services ranked him a top-10 junior college recruit and the top junior college safety in the nation by On3.[7](https://steelersdepot.com/2026/03/2026-nfl-draft-scouting-report-usc-s-bishop-fitzgerald/) • [1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career)
**NC State (2023–24).** At North Carolina State he became a two-year starter in the [Atlantic Coast Conference](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-coast-conference). In 2023 he played 13 games with 42 combined tackles and 2 interceptions; in 2024 he played 13 games with 55 combined tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and a forced fumble.[5](https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/bishop-fitzgerald-1.html) He shared the NC State field with Sean Brown, who also signed with the Titans as a 2026 rookie free agent.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career)
**USC (2025).** Fitzgerald transferred to USC for the 2025 season and seized a starting job in the Big Ten. In 10 games he recorded 51 tackles, 5 interceptions for 86 yards with one returned for a touchdown, and his first career sack.[5](https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/bishop-fitzgerald-1.html) Despite appearing in only 10 games, his 5 interceptions topped the Big Ten, but a knee injury suffered late in the season forced him to miss the last two.[2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) The season earned him Consensus All-American honors from the AP, FWAA, and [Walter Camp](https://www.edgepedia.org/walter-camp), a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist nod, and first-team All-Big Ten recognition; the Associated Press placed him on its first-team [All-America](https://www.edgepedia.org/all-america) defense at safety.[2](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565) • [8](https://apnews.com/article/f0a2aa9aa723b453d0015ee197c8ff6f) [Pro Football Focus](https://www.edgepedia.org/pro-football-focus) graded his 2025 season at 90.3 overall, 7th among 910 qualified safeties, with a 90.4 coverage grade that ranked 8th, against a run-defense grade of 71.2 that ranked 377th at the position.[6](https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/Bishop%20Fitzgerald/176010) Across his three FBS seasons he intercepted 10 passes and broke up 24 more.[9](https://bigblueinteractive.com/2026/04/21/new-york-giants-2026-nfl-draft-preview-safeties/) He graduated from USC with a degree in communications.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career)
## Professional career
Fitzgerald went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed with the [Tennessee Titans](https://www.edgepedia.org/tennessee-titans) as a rookie free agent on April 26, 2026. Tennessee waived him in August 2026, the [Pittsburgh Steelers](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh-steelers) signed him to their practice squad in September, and the Detroit Lions signed him off Pittsburgh's practice squad later that month.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565) NFL.com lists him as an active safety for Detroit.[4](https://www.nfl.com/players/bishop-fitzgerald/)
## Playing style
Scouts describe Fitzgerald as an instinctive, ball-hawking deep safety who reads route concepts quickly and rarely overcommits, with significant snaps also in the box and nickel alignments.[1](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career) • [3](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565) His quarterback background shows in his coverage: analysts note that he can read routes and the quarterback simultaneously in deep coverage and that quarterbacks avoided testing him in zone, targeting him only 7 times on 128 zone coverage snaps in 2025, when he allowed 63 yards and a 59.5 passer rating on those targets.[9](https://bigblueinteractive.com/2026/04/21/new-york-giants-2026-nfl-draft-preview-safeties/) • [10](https://usc.rivals.com/news/film-room-breaking-down-s-bishop-fitzgerald-s-projected-impact-for-usc) The recurring question in his evaluation is top-end speed: at 5 feet 11 inches with a 4.55-second 40-yard dash, faster receivers can separate from him when he does not control a rep with positioning and early reactions, and evaluators flag tackling consistency as an area to clean up.[10](https://usc.rivals.com/news/film-room-breaking-down-s-bishop-fitzgerald-s-projected-impact-for-usc) • [9](https://bigblueinteractive.com/2026/04/21/new-york-giants-2026-nfl-draft-preview-safeties/)
## References
1. [Bishop Fitzgerald career biography, TennesseeTitans.com](https://www.tennesseetitans.com/team/players-roster/bishop-fitzgerald/career)
2. [Bishop Fitzgerald NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report, NFL Draft Buzz](https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Bishop-Fitzgerald-S-NorthCarolinaState)
3. [Bishop Fitzgerald, Ourlads NFL Depth Charts](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/player/55565)
4. [Bishop Fitzgerald Stats, News and Video, NFL.com](https://www.nfl.com/players/bishop-fitzgerald/)
5. [Bishop Fitzgerald College Stats, Sports Reference](https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/bishop-fitzgerald-1.html)
6. [Bishop Fitzgerald, PFF NCAA player page](https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/Bishop%20Fitzgerald/176010)
7. [2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: USC S Bishop Fitzgerald, Steelers Depot](https://steelersdepot.com/2026/03/2026-nfl-draft-scouting-report-usc-s-bishop-fitzgerald/)
8. [Big Ten puts 10 on AP All-America first team, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/f0a2aa9aa723b453d0015ee197c8ff6f)
9. [New York Giants 2026 NFL Draft Preview: Safeties, Big Blue Interactive](https://bigblueinteractive.com/2026/04/21/new-york-giants-2026-nfl-draft-preview-safeties/)
10. [FILM ROOM: Breaking down S Bishop Fitzgerald's projected impact for USC, TrojanSports](https://usc.rivals.com/news/film-room-breaking-down-s-bishop-fitzgerald-s-projected-impact-for-usc)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Rugby and other football codes › American football players, coaches, and executives › Safeties › Surnames A to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license