Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. has quickly become the top cover man for the Black and Gold, finally earning the starting job on the outside after playing only in select sub-packages to start the year. Porter’s elevated role has come due to his impressive play in limited action as well as with Pittsburgh’s veteran corners struggling at times, failing to show the same athleticism and stickiness in coverage that Porter has put on display thus far.
John Kosko of Pro Football Focus recently included Porter in PFF’s Week 10 cornerback rankings, slotting him at No. 6 after finally getting enough exposure as a starter to make the list.
“A newcomer to the rankings, Porter earned starting reps and now has enough snaps to qualify,” Kosko wrote. “The rookie has been excellent, allowing 0.67 yards per coverage snap, just three first downs, and only one touchdown. He’s recorded a 28.6% incompletion rate too.”
Porter finds himself behind fellow rookie Brian Branch of the Detroit Lions at No. 5 and ahead of Rasul Douglas of the Buffalo Bills at No. 7, finding himself in good company with the likes of Sauce Gardner and Kenny Moore II.
Porter has been excellent both in limited action as a rotational player as well as a starter, having made key plays against the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens to push the coaching staff to put him into the starting lineup. He’s had his fair share of struggles, notably a coverage bust against RB Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as some tackling woes, but his coverage skills have been borderline elite when matched up with some top talent at wide receiver.
Porter has the second-best QB passer rating allowed this season and has quickly become Pittsburgh’s de facto CB1. He shadowed WR DeAndre Hopkins for most of the game against the Titans while having the best results when covering the five-time Pro Bowler and Puka Nacua while his teammates struggled to contain the rookie receiver when Porter wasn’t on him in coverage.
Porter is quickly becoming a household name across the league, and the stats back it up. Opposing quarterbacks aren’t seeing much success when going his way, as evidenced by his 43.5% completion rate against, according to Pro Football Reference. Porter will be tested in the coming weeks, facing the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Amari Cooper, and D.K. Metcalf down the stretch. Should he continue to do well and hold his own against those wideouts, it would be hard to argue that Porter isn’t one of the better young cornerbacks in the game as he looks to leave his mark on the league as Pittsburgh’s CB1.
