When the Pittsburgh Steelers selected CB Joey Porter Jr. in the draft this spring, he arrived with much fanfare. Son of Steelers legend Joey Porter Sr., Porter Jr. was always going to be welcomed to open arms by the fanbase. But, Porter Jr. can’t rest on his father’s legacy, he has to make his own, and so far in training camp he is impressing head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin spoke with the media today, which was posted to Steelers.com, after practice and he is a big fan of Porter’s attitude early in camp.
“He’s ready and able,” Tomlin said about Porter receiving a lot off reps early on. “I like his attitude. I like his preparation in terms of his condition and physical readiness, and we’ll continue every day with the maturation process by stepping out and competing.”
Early in training camp, Porter has seen a lot of playing time, including playing with the starters. Will he be starting come Week One? We don’t know, but so far Porter Jr. has looked the part. Alex Kozora has been at training camp and said that Porter Jr has shown flashes.
The Steelers could use a young, great cornerback as their cornerback room currently doesn’t look very inspiring. CB Levi Wallace is good but not great and CB Patrick Peterson is good but aging and likely won’t be around much longer. Porter Jr. being a stud would be huge as the AFC is chock full of elite quarterbacks.
We are still early in camp though, and pads haven’t come on yet. There is a long way to go for Porter to not only earn a starting role but be a very good player. Early on, though, he is impressing and has made Tomlin happy. Porter is young too, only 23 years old, meaning he has so much room to grow.
The potential of Porter is through the roof, and with hard work and determination he can become a shutdown cornerback. So far, he is showing the hunger necessary to be an elite player, and Tomlin is impressed.
