Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. played in his second NFL preseason game last Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons and saw a few more snaps than he did against the Buffalo Bills the previous weekend. He played in 29 snaps against Atlanta, and to NFL.com’s Chad Reuter, it was a mixed performance for the rookie. However, Porter’s physical play did stick out to Reuter.
“Porter showed quick feet and some physicality in the Steelers’ 24-0 win in Atlanta,” Reuter wrote. “Taking over for Patrick Peterson in the second quarter, he missed [the] jam on his first play but stayed with the receiver until coming off to try to rip the ball from the ball-carrier downfield… Uncovered on a Falcons red zone run, Porter stopped the back and linebacker Mark Robinson punched the ball out for a turnover. On the next series, he pushed a blocker backwards into a screen, keeping outside leverage.”
Part of the mixed bag of Porter’s performance that earned him a ‘C’ grade from Reuter was his play in coverage. While he was able to recover from missing the jam, Reuter did highlight Porter’s pass interference call as one negative. He also discussed a second-half series that showed Porter’s promise and how green he is at the NFL level.
“He stayed with one double move at the start of the second half,” Reuter wrote. “But he turned around on a strong cut inside a few plays later (but wasn’t targeted).”
That pass interference penalty is not something that is new to Porter. He struggled at times at Penn State University, getting flagged six times as a junior and three times as a senior for interfering with receivers. Obviously, he improved as a senior, but no one wants defenders giving up pass-interference penalties that could be key conversions or big yardage.
The physical play is always a positive, though. Porter was willing to take on blockers and make tackles in college, but he checked in at 198 pounds at the NFL Combine. NFL-level running backs can bury unsuspecting cornerbacks. To see Porter step up and make a stop that led to a turnover is a great look for the rookie.
So is driving a blocker backward to disrupt a screen play. Here’s a look at that rep.
The Steelers may see a number of those this season thanks to a devastating pass rush led by T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. If that is indeed the case, the defense will need the cornerbacks to step up and play physically against blockers, so Porter showing that ability in preseason is promising.
Porter’s performance against Atlanta may have been shaky at points, which is to be expected for a rookie. However, our own Alex Kozora broke down his training camp grades for the entire group of defensive backs, and he gave Porter a B+ for his overall performance. We will see how that carries into the regular season come Week One against the San Francisco 49ers.
