When Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. took to the field last Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills, there were some pretty good receivers on the opposing sideline like Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. However, he was not nervous or concerned about facing the likes of them thanks to practicing against Diontae Johnson and George Pickens throughout training camp.
When Porter met with the media Tuesday with video courtesy of Steelers.com, he addressed lining up against the caliber of receiver talent that the Bills put on the field.
“Going against DJ and GP throughout camp, I already had enough confidence that I could stick with anybody in this league,” Porter said. “I feel like they’re the top two guys in this league, at least in that conversation. So when I was out there with Stefon and all those guys, I wasn’t nervous at all.”
At face value, that might seem like another comment akin to Ryan Clark’s thoughts on Pickens vs the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson. After all, Diggs has proven himself to be one of the top five wide receivers in the league. He has 8,812 yards receiving and 59 touchdowns in 119 career games and averages 12.5 yards per catch. He’s made the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons since joining the Bills.
Then there’s Gabe Davis who has 1,984 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns in 47 career regular-season games. He averages over four yards per reception more than Diggs at 16.8. Then in seven playoff games, Davis had six touchdowns and averages 21.5 yards per catch. Buffalo has quite the wide receiver tandem.
That doesn’t mean Johnson nor Pickens are a slouch in the statistics sense. Johnson has been remarkably consistent, pulling in 340 catches for 3,646 yards and 20 touchdowns in 64 career games. As a rookie, Pickens averaged 15.4 yards per catch with 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns. Still, it’s incredibly hard to compare the two tandems in terms of career statistics.
However, the stats don’t tell the full story here. Diggs is one of the best route runners in the NFL, and so is Johnson per the metrics. Then you have Pickens, one of the game’s best contested-catch receivers as a rookie in 2022. Porter got to feel the full brunt of that skill come to bear during training camp when Pickens turned in one of the craziest catches likely ever seen on the football field.
So Johnson and Pickens may not statistically be the best receivers in the NFL to date. However, in terms of the skills that they bring to the football field, it’s hard to imagine a much better duo to line up against in practice for the rookie Porter. They give him the best of both worlds, the elite technician and the insane physical prowess, that the NFL can throw at a cornerback.
