Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson has spent a lot of time in the league, and he’s seen a lot of young cornerbacks in his time. Throughout OTAs and mandatory minicamp, it’s no surprise that he’s spent a lot of time around rookie CBs Joey Porter Jr and Cory Trice Jr. While talking with former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden on Monday’s episode of All Things Covered, Peterson talked about the progress the rookie duo has made and what’s stood out to him.
“Just to see the ground they’re able to makeup, the patience, and the disruption they’re able to cause at the line of scrimmage, it’s a beautiful thing to watch,” Peterson said. “As you see nowadays, that’s a lost art as a defensive back. Press. Most guys open the gate, most guys don’t get hands on the receiver when they’re at the line of scrimmage…to have these two guys, the stature that they have, they’re not wasting it. To see it every single day, it’s great to know that the game is going to be in great hands once I do decide to hang up the cleats.”
It’s no secret that Porter and Trice are large for corners. Porter checked in at the NFL Combine at 6024 inches with 34-inch arms and weighing 193 pounds. Trice was taller and thicker at 6’3 inches while weighing 206 pounds with 32 and 3/8-inch arms. Both corners stand as tall if not taller than any other defensive back on the Steelers’ roster, including the 6’1 Peterson.
The two rookies are bigger or at least comparable in size to most of the wide receivers on the Steelers’ roster as well. Trice is almost identical in size to George Pickens and should match up favorably size-wise against anyone they face this season.
So what does that all mean? It means that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has a couple of defenders that once they’re accustomed to the competition level of the NFL, they won’t be at a physical disadvantage to almost every wide receiver at the line of scrimmage. That fits well with what Austin did last season as the Steelers ran man coverage at a top-five rate in the league.
As for college playing time, Porter does come out of Penn State with experience playing press coverage as per our Steelers Depot Film Room. While he still has areas to improve in, it appears that Peterson has already seen that growth throughout the offseason workouts. Now it has to translate once the pads go on at training camp in Latrobe.
As for Trice, Steelers defensive backs coach Grady Brown noted Trice’s ability to play press coverage and utilize his size on the Steelers’ website post-draft.
Once these players get onto the field in actual NFL games, it will remain to be seen how they fare. However, it’s easy to see what the Steelers’ front office and scouting staff were thinking in accordance with the defensive staff. So far though, Peterson is impressed with how Porter and Trice handle themselves at the line of scrimmage.
