It’s hard to call a second-round pick who turned into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ best cornerback “overlooked” or “surprised,” but NFL.com is giving it the old college try. In a list of the most overlooked/surprise players among each AFC team, Kevin Patra selected CB Joey Porter Jr. as Pittsburgh’s choice.
A curious decision, but here was Patra’s explanation.
“As injuries mounted for the Steelers D, the youngster provided the kind of impressive play Pittsburgh desperately needed. A physical corner, Porter forced a tight window on over half of his man coverage targets this season (18, tied for most in the NFL). The second-round pick also allowed -16.0 target EPA this season, the fourth-fewest by a rookie CB in the NGS era.”
Impressive numbers overall especially given the competition he faced. As Patra also noted, Porter not only became the Steelers’ top cornerback but shadowed opposing No. 1 wide receivers including D.K. Metcalf, DeAndre Hopkins, and Ja’Marr Chase.
The top pick of the second round, Porter fell into the Steelers’ lap during the draft. A plausible candidate to be Pittsburgh’s selection in the first round, he fell out of Day One, and Pittsburgh turned down multiple trade offers to stay at No. 32 and make him their pick. After slow-playing him early in the season, deploying him only in dime packages, the Steelers increased his role in the team’s Week Five win over the Baltimore Ravens, in which Porter recorded his first and only interception of the season.
There’s no debate that Porter played a key role in the Steelers’ season. So much so that his contributions weren’t overlooked or surprising, and he shouldn’t qualify for this list. Better choices include QB Mason Rudolph, going from third-string to leading the Steelers into the playoffs, LB Elandon Roberts, who had a larger impact than expected due to injuries in front of him, and S Eric Rowe, signed late in the year but logging quality snaps during the team’s stretch run.
In fairness, those players largely made up just slices of the season instead of season-long (Roberts played the entire year, but his role only elevated once Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander were lost), and the Steelers don’t have a perfect candidate who checks that box. Perhaps TE Connor Heyward, EDGE Nick Herbig, or NCB Chandon Sullivan.
No matter the classification, Porter had an excellent rookie season and will build his game in the offseason. For the Steelers, their mission is to find the next Porter who can play opposite him.
