Not only was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ selection of Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. the right one at No. 32 overall due to team needs as well as a feel-good story with him being the son of former Steelers’ great, Joey Porter Sr. It might also be the best value pick of the entire 2023 NFL Draft.
At least, that’s the belief of Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon.
Kenyon listed the Steelers’ selection of Porter Jr. at No. 32 overall to open the second round as the best value pick of the entire 2023 NFL Draft for Bleacher Report Monday.
“Top-10 talent at the 32nd overall pick? Sign me up. Checking in 10th on B/R’s final rankings, Joey Porter Jr. surprisingly slid through the opening round of the draft. But the Day 1 disappointment simply preceded a very happy Friday night,” Kenyon wrote. “Porter went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, joining the franchise for which his father played. The elder Porter totaled 468 tackles and earned three AP All-Pro honors in eight seasons with the Steelers, who selected the younger Porter to bolster the cornerback room.
“While he won’t necessarily start as a rookie, it shouldn’t be long until Porter is a first-stringer for the Steelers.”
The value of Porter at No. 32 overall was rather high, considering Porter was a consensus top-25 player overall across the national draft analyst landscape, landing at No. 22 in NFL.com’s rankings from Lance Zierlein, 16th from Dane Brugler in The Athletic, 12th from CBS Sports, and 23rd from NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.
As Kenyon writes though, Bleacher Report had Porter at No. 10 overall, making him quite the value 22 picks later.
Entering the 2023 NFL Draft, it was expected that Porter would come off the board in the first round and might be the pick at No. 17 overall for the Steelers. Porter also stated that he thought when the Steelers traded up to No. 14 with the Patriots that they were coming up to get him.Â
That obviously didn’t happen, but the Steelers were fortunate that Porter was on the board to open the second round. The Steelers grabbed the Penn State product and made the legacy player a member of the Black and Gold.
It’s hard to call a second-round player at No. 32 overall the best value pick in the draft, but there’s no denying that the Steelers were very fortunate to see a top talent like Porter on the board to start Day 2.
