Joey Porter Jr. may be quieting big-time receivers, but his play has made a loud statement across the league.
One person who has taken notice of the rookie’s season is Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Speaking on the Pete Carroll Preview on KIRO Newsradio show, the Super Bowl champion praised Porter.
“We’ll see Joey Porter, he’s a first-round pick, he’s a big-timer,” Carroll said.
The “big-timer” is already talking about a “big” game within the game ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ matchup against the Seahawks this Sunday.
When speaking with the media earlier this week, Porter talked about his upcoming matchup against Seattle wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.
“D.K. is definitely one of those guys that’s different from the rest,” Porter said. “But like any matchup I’m ready for it. I’ve been looking for it. Especially this one, this is a big one, everybody’s been talking about it. I’m not going to lie, I had this one circled up on my calendar.”
Metcalf is a freak, 6-4 and a muscled up 236 pounds. The former Ole Miss Rebel likes to play physical with cornerbacks, something that plays well into Porter’s hands.
In his last matchup against a similarly physical Tee Higgins, the Penn State product had success, holding him to just 15 yards on two targets, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Seth Walder of the website shared that among all outside cornerbacks in the NFL, Porter has allowed the second fewest yards per coverage snap at 0.8.
To further cement Porter’s dominance over the course of the season, he has been one of the better overall corners in the league carrying the fourth-lowest completion percentage against in the league at 46.8%.
However, as the self-proclaimed King of the North said, Metcalf is a different animal. While he is a strong, physical wide receiver, the second-round pick also has speed to boot. At the 2019 NFL Combine, he was clocked with a blazing 4.33 40-yard dash time.
Metcalf’s speed is so legit he actually competed in the 2021 100-meter dash race at the USA Track and Field Golden Games.
And just to prove he isn’t just “track fast,” in the Seahawks’ game against the Dallas Cowboys, Metcalf reached a top speed of 22.3 MPH on a 73-yard touchdown reception. For reference, that is the fastest a player has been timed since Week Two of 2020.
Needless to say, Porter will have his hands full on Sunday, but if his past matchups are any indication of what is to come, expect a heavyweight fight between the two young stars.
