I’m guessing that the Pittsburgh Steelers feel they have a few long-term starters on their roster amongst their rookie class. That doesn’t mean they have rushed to get them in the starting lineup from the first second of their journey, however.
They have no rookie starters, but they have multiple positive contributors, with second-round CB Joey Porter Jr. being chief among them. While he is only the dime defender at the moment, he is clearly earmarked for bigger things in the future. As he waits, he is taking what he can from the role given to him.
“It just really honed me in on one specific down, which is third down. That’s the money down”, he told reporters on Friday, via the team’s website. “They just give me that task to really lock in on that throughout the week, see the tendencies, so when I get in, I can make my plays, like I have been”.
Officially, Porter has only been credited with one pass defensed, to date, but his coverage has induced or influenced multiple other incompletions, including the decisive play of Week Two on a failed fourth-down conversion attempt against the Cleveland Browns.
Still, while he has stepped up in his own limited role thus far, it doesn’t automatically follow that he is ready to handle 70-plus snaps per game, rather than the couple dozen per week at most that he is currently seeing. And his limited role also narrows his focus almost exclusively to coverage, so he hardly even has to consider the possibility of a run.
For now, and there are no indications that it will be different in Houston, Porter will continue to play behind Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace, both of whom arguably had their best games of the season. Wallace in particular recorded four passes defensed, two of which were interceptions, after struggling early on. He did give up two scores as well, but responded positively.
Yet his time will come, make no mistake about that. I’m not sure when, but he will graduate, perhaps first to the nickel role. That may rely upon the Steelers continuing to gain comfort in playing Peterson in the slot for that to happen. Whenever it happens, the rookie is mentally prepared for it.
“I feel good. I’ll be able to play first and second down”, he said during the same interview session from the team’s website. “I’ve been doing it since OTAs. It’s nothing I haven’t been doing. It’s just something that they just don’t have me in right now”.
He’s been saying every week when asked that it’s not up to him when he plays more, he’s just ready for whenever his name is called. That’s all you can do as a rookie, simply be ready for your opportunity whenever it comes. And that’s what he’s been prepared to do since he got here.
