Pittsburgh Steelers second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. is going to make an impact during his rookie season, but the question is how much. With Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace currently looking like the starters at outside cornerback, Porter is likely going to have to surpass someone on the depth chart to start right off the bat. Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who’s had a lot of experience coaching young cornerbacks in the league, talked during the team’s mandatory minicamp today about what he’s going to need to see from Porter to know when he’ll be ready for a significant role.
“I think the things that I always looked for was, obviously you look for the competitiveness,” Austin said via video posted to Steelers.com. “But I always look for what’s his understanding of his role. So does he understand why we’re putting him in here in this particular [situation] right now. So if he understands that, you move toward how he’s actually playing it, is he doing it well. So you look at those two things and then there’s usually a moment where you just go, ‘Ok, this guy’s ready.'”
Austin was with Detroit when Darius Slay was emerging as a young cornerback and in Seattle when the team drafted Marcus Trufant and Arizona when the Cardinals spent a top-20 pick on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. So it’s not as if Austin is going into the process blind. He knows what he needs to see from Porter, and for that matter fellow rookie corner Cory Trice Jr. to know when they’ll be ready to see the field.
Both Porter and Trice are unusual corners in the fact that they’re both physically gifted, both over six feet and 200 pounds with really solid athleticism. So far, both have been impressive during the team’s offseason workouts, and they’ll have one of the best mentors a cornerback can have in former All-Pro Patrick Peterson. But playing time won’t just be handed to them, with Peterson, Wallace and James Pierre, who has starting experience and showed flashes down the stretch last year, still in the fold.
With all the being said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Porter and/or Trice get snaps early in the season. Their ability to knock receivers off their route at the line of scrimmage using their size and length is important, and the Steelers can get creative with how they deploy their defensive backs, especially with a major question at the slot corner position. There could be a path to see the field early, but Austin is going to have to see the understanding of the role for them to see snaps early on.
