While he’s only a rookie, Joey Porter Jr. made what is clearly the best play of his career in Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens.
With just over four minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the Ravens facing a third-and-goal situation from the five-yard line. Lamar Jackson tried to throw a fade to Odell Beckham Jr. in the back corner of the end zone. The throw didn’t have enough juice on it, however, and Porter played the coverage perfectly and came down with the interception in the end zone. The Steelers regained possession of the football and would score the eventual game-winning touchdown on their next drive.
For all Steelers fans, but particularly for Mike Tomlin, this was great to see from the young corner. Tomlin had this to say regarding the play on The Mike Tomlin Show today.
“I’m really excited from an awareness standpoint that he realized that he was in the kitchen. It was a possession down play and he was in a one-on-one matchup on the weak side of a formation.” Tomlin noted to host Bob Pompeani. “That’s where balls go in the National Football League. he knew that and was ready for it and made the necessary play. It’s just really a good significant play for us in-game, but also a good significant play in terms of a building block for a young player.”
While again, the ball from Jackson wasn’t great, Beckham has been notorious for making spectacular catches throughout his whole career. Due to Porter’s great positioning, Beckham wasn’t able to get any leverage to add another touchdown to his resume.
For Porter, being able to come through in such a big moment will hopefully earn him some more trust with the coaching staff. He played a career-high 28 snaps against the Ravens but still has yet to have a game where he has played over 50 percent of total defensive snaps. He’s also had three games where he’s played under 20 percent of the defensive snaps.
Porter was ranked the number one corner by PFF in Week Five, so it’s getting tougher and tougher for Tomlin to justify keeping him off the field. Fellow corners Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, and Chandon Sullivan have received the majority of the snaps in 2023. None of them have been world-beaters by any means, and it seems likely that Porter will eat into their playing time as the season goes on.
Week Seven could be a big test for Porter if Tomlin chooses to give him the opportunity. The Steelers head to California to play the Los Angeles Rams, who employ one of the best wide receiver duos in the league in superstar WR Cooper Kupp and breakout rookie wideout Puka Nacua. It’s likely that Porter will get additional playing time beyond his usual appearance in the dime package, but it will be interesting to observe how much and who he will be matched up against.
