Early on in the season, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was seeing only limited reps despite performing quite well in coverage.
There were questions — and some speculation — as to why he wasn’t seeing the field, whether it was due to concerns about tackling or his ability to grasp the playbook.
Turns out, it was very clearly his tackling. He showed why there were those concerns in Week Seven on the road against the Los Angeles Rams. Though he played a season-high 53 snaps (78%), Porter missed two tackles on the afternoon. For defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, the Steelers are addressing the tackling issues with the Penn State product, which is something they have to correct — and fast — if Porter wants to be an every-down corner in the NFL.
“I think he’s played well. We were talking about with him, we’re addressing the tackling,” Austin said to reporters Thursday, according to the transcript provided by the team. “If you want to be an every-down corner in this league you got to be able to tackle. So, he’s continuing to progress in that regard, and we will just keep pushing.”
Austin is spot-on that to be an every-down corner in today’s NFL, you have to tackle. Granted, an all-time great like Deion Sanders couldn’t tackle to save his life, but it was a different time, and Sanders never played on the Steelers’ defense where it’s a real requirement.
Porter has done a nice job of adjusting to the NFL game in coverage, allowing just one reception on 10 targets for 12 yards, holding opposing quarterbacks to a 0.0 QB rating against.
But tackling remains a concern. He struggled at it in training camp and has had issues so far in the regular season. Based on charting done here at Steelers Depot, Porter has missed four tackles on just 13 tackle attempts, good for a 30.7% missed tackles rate on the season. Last season, former defensive back Tre Norwood had a team-high missed tackles rate of 32.5%, a number that Porter is threatening as a rookie.
Of course, live reps in games and more opportunities to tackle will help him clean up some of the issues, but there is no denying that the issues in the tackling department are concerning for all parties involved.
Good news is Porter gets a chance to correct the problems right away, starting in Week Eight against the Jacksonville Jaguars at home.
