Even with some inconsistent playing time early in the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting quite the return on investment from rookie defensive lineman Keeanu Benton and rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
The pair, selected 17 picks apart in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, remains two of the 10 highest-graded rookies in the NFL from Pro Football Focus.
Benton sits tied for seventh in the NFL as a rookie with a PFF grade of 80.8, while Porter sits ninth in the NFL with a grade of 80.4.
“Benton’s spot on this list is typically because of his ability as a run-stuffer, but this week, the credit falls squarely on his improvements as a pass-rusher. He put up a 90.4 pass-rushing grade in Week 7, the best mark at his position for the week,” PFF’s Mason Cameron writes regarding Benton through the first six weeks of the season. “He won 30% of his pass-rush snaps and recorded three quarterback hits.”
The Wisconsin product was a force in the Week Seven win over the Rams. As Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora showed in his film room regarding Benton, he flashed his pass-rush abilities in his limited playing time.
Benton played just 19 snaps against the Rams, but they were impactful ones. In just 10 pass-rush reps, Benton generated three pressures and graded out at a 90.4 pass rush grade from PFF, his third game with a grade of 82.8 or higher from a pass-rush perspective.
That said, Benton struggled from a run-defense standpoint, grading out at just a 55.8 overall against the run. His 19 snaps were the lowest total of the season to date, which is a bit puzzling, but he made the most of them.
As for Porter, the Penn State product emerged in a massive way against the Rams.
Porter played a career-high 53 snaps (78%) and didn’t allow a single reception when he was targeted three times on the day.
“Amazingly, Porter has allowed just one reception on over 100 coverage snaps this season. While he has been targeted in coverage only 10 times, it still provides a very impressive projection for his future,” Cameron writes. “Porter has allowed just 0.11 yards per coverage snap, a mark three times lower than the next best at the position.”
Those numbers Cameron points out regarding Porter are quite remarkable. Though the tackling concerns are real, he is a lockdown cornerback in coverage so far in his career. He’s hit the ground running in that department and been exactly what the Steelers were hoping for when they landed him at No. 32 overall.
Against the Rams, Porter graded out at a 67.7 overall, which doesn’t exactly match his performance on the field. He also graded out at just a 70.6 in coverage despite not allowing a catch on three targets while breaking up a pass.
Porter has been very intriguing in coverage to date and needs to start seeing more consistent playing time. It’s time to take the training wheels off and let him get the real, live reps in games to try and improve his tacking issues. In the meantime, he gives the Steelers that strong coverage cornerback that they desperately need moving forward.
