In spite of the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 NFL Draft class garnered apparent universal praise, the simple reality is that none of the draft picks will begin their NFL careers as starters—apparently. At the very least, none of them are listed as starters on the team’s first official depth chart.
That includes 32nd-overall draft pick Joey Porter Jr., whom many anticipate playing early and often. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he will join the rest of the rookies, including T Broderick Jones and DL Keeanu Benton, as reserves.
“Even though he has all the measurables the Steelers seek in a cornerback, Porter will not begin the season as one of the starters”, he wrote for the paper yesterday. “Veteran Patrick Peterson, a former eight-time Pro Bowler who enters his 13th NFL season, will start alongside Levi Wallace when the Steelers open the 2023 season against the San Francisco 49ers at 1 p.m. Sunday at Acrisure Stadium”.
Significantly, he also notes that “for now, Peterson will be used on the outside, even though the team has plans to line him at different spots in the secondary”. If Porter is not starting, and Peterson remains outside early in the season, then the rookie is going to have a hard time seeing the field.
Not long ago, it was reported that Wallace was “locked into a starting spot” regardless of what might happen with Porter, suggesting that it could be Peterson who would take a back seat should the rookie force his way into the lineup.
But it’s not going to happen right away. The real question is how and when the Steelers get him on the field. Will they do some rotating to allow Porter to get some reps? Will they work Peterson a little bit in the slot initially while ramping up that look for future use?
The Steelers have so many different combinations they can use in the secondary right now, including slot options in Chandon Sullivan, Elijah Riley, and most notably, the recently signed veteran Desmond King II, who is getting himself up to speed.
Put simply, they don’t need him to play, though I imagine they would like to get him on the field. Doing so might be easier said than done when you already have Peterson and Wallace on the field and you are not ready to kick Peterson inside.
The team supposedly has big plans to play the veteran all over the field, but we’ve only got hints, whiffs, gestures of this throughout the offseason. They did not test it, at least in public, nearly as much as you might think for somebody who does not have experience playing in the slot.
The bottom line is that Porter’s playing time may well be tied directly to the progress Peterson makes adapting to playing more in the slot. And that could take some time. Or maybe the report is completely wrong and Porter plays every single defensive snap on Sunday. Finally, at long last, we don’t have to wait long to find out.
