After being selected in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, CB Joey Porter Jr. had to wait almost half the season before being handed the starting position. He was behind CB Levi Wallace and CB Patrick Peterson on the depth chart and didn’t crack the starting lineup until Week Eight due to a Wallace injury. The following week against the Tennessee Titans he started his second game, but this time he asked head coach Mike Tomlin if he could follow WR DeAndre Hopkins.
At the time, Tomlin thought his request to follow Hopkins was crazy, but Porter ended up shutting him down. Hopkins gained just 17 yards on one reception against Porter while the two lined up against each other on 26 of Hopkins’ 36 routes run. Porter has since shadowed the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Amari Cooper, and DK Metcalf with great success.
Porter sat down for a one-on-one interview with Missi Mathews for the Steelers’ website and discussed his quick ascension to covering opposing teams’ top receivers. Matthews asked him what those conversations are like with Tomlin each week when Porter requests to follow top receivers.
“He was like, ‘Is that even a question?” Porter said. “‘You already know what the assignment is.'”
It didn’t happen right away. He had to earn Tomlin’s trust. At first Tomlin granted him his request to help limit his exposure to tackling and having to come downhill against the run, but now it would appear that he doesn’t even need to ask.
“The first time was Hopkins and he was like, ‘Yeah I gotta sleep on that,'” Porter said. “Luckily he gave me that heads up and that nod. So we just have that good relationship where he knows what I want, I know what he wants and we’re just gonna keep working.”
Porter will have a challenge ahead of him on Sunday in his first career playoff game. He is expected to shadow WR Stefon Diggs, who is widely regarded as one of the league’s top route runners.
Diggs has been a 1,000-yard receiver for six-straight years. He has caught over 100 passes in four-straight seasons. This season, Diggs had 107 receptions for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns. The weather on Sunday could limit some of the passing attack for both teams, but it will also challenge Porter as he will have to cover Diggs on a slick, snowy surface.
“It’s another guy on the list that I get to go against and put him on the list. That’s what I usually say, so it’s gonna be a fun matchup,” Porter said. “I definitely think Diggs is up there in that list…it’s really gonna be one of those top-tier performances for me that I need.”
