Joey Porter Jr. was just named the Steelers’ Rookie of the Year, receiving the Joe Greene Great Performance Award earlier today. Drafted in the second round, he didn’t enter the starting lineup until Week Eight but has been lights out since then, shadowing some of the league’s top receivers with great success. He has played in all 16 games and has 42 total tackles, 32 solo tackles, 10 passes defensed, and one interception. He has allowed a passer rating of 72.4 when targeted. All of these numbers are great, but it doesn’t mean there haven’t been growing pains along the way.
Joey Porter Jr. spoke to the media after practice on Wednesday following the award announcement and discussed one aspect of his game that he feels he has improved on—tackling. He credits his dad, former Steelers OLB Joey Porter Sr., for helping him improve.
“I like when he’s hard on me,” Porter said in a clip of his media availability posted on X by 93.7 The Fan. “Like earlier in the year with my tackling. He didn’t like it at all. Which is understandable, I didn’t like it at all. He [was] like, ‘You never want to put something on tape where you want to turn your head’…I feel like we been trending in the right direction with that.”
When Porter got his first opportunity to shadow a top receiver in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans, head coach Mike Tomlin said that part of that decision was to limit his exposure to tackling. Pro Football Focus has credited him with six missed tackles this season but only one since Week 10. Alex Kozora wrote a post about how much his tackling has improved last week. Porter was asked later in the press conference how he has managed to improve his tackling.
“Not overthinking,” Porter said in a video of the full press conference posted by Steelers Live on X. “I knew I could tackle, I did it in college multiple times. It was one of my strong suits. So I just felt like when I just let the game slow down and not be so antsy that I’ll start tackling like I used to.”
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said in his media availability on Wednesday that Porter has played well but that he “could be so much of a better player.” Tackling is one of those things that will be a work in progress as he matures into a well-rounded player in the NFL. Fortunately, he has his father chirping in his ear to help him improve.
