One of the keys to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-15 win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium was three interceptions of Bills’ backup QB Matt Barkley. One of those interceptions came at the end of the first half. CB Joey Porter Jr., in his first NFL action, picked off Barkley, which helped set up a Steelers touchdown. After the game, Porter talked about his unofficial first career interception.
“Hopefully, first of many. Shoot, we look at it, one play, focus is onto the next. Can’t keep talking about that ‘cause then that’s all the thing I’m gonna worry about,” Porter said via Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube.
Shortly after he got to the sidelines after the pick, Porter Jr. gave the ball to his father, former Steelers OLB Joey Porter.
“I was looking for him the whole time. I couldn’t find him. He was all the way up there in the nosebleeds,” the younger Porter said. “So when he finally came down, I got the ball back and I gave it to him.”
The interception helped quell doubts about Porter’s hands. Coming out of Penn State, there were serious questions about Porter Jr.’s ability to catch and his ball skills given that he had just one interception in college. But during Steelers training camp, he had two interceptions. He also spent a heck of a lot of time working on the JUGS machine before practice. He made it clear he wanted to prove the doubters wrong, and getting an interception in a game is a good way to do that.
If Porter can be the type of corner who uses his length and physicality to jam receivers at the line and disrupt the flow of their route, and a guy who picks off a few passes each season, the Steelers will have gotten themselves quite the steal at the top of the second round. Porter’s familiarity with the organization notwithstanding, he’s a really good football player and he just might be the guy to finally end Pittsburgh’s woes when drafting cornerbacks.
While the Steelers are going to move Patrick Peterson around and Porter will get plenty of snaps, he might not start the season as one of the team’s two outside corners. Peterson and Levi Wallace will likely have that role, but if Porter continues playing the way he has in camp and now in his preseason debut, he’s going to push for more reps. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him break into the starting lineup at some point during the 2023 season.
It’s awesome to see Porter make an immediate impact, and hopefully that’s something that keeps up throughout the year. It’s a moment that Porter Jr. and his family will likely remember forever, and it could be the start of an impressive career.
The full interview clip can be watched below:
