Joey Porter Jr. was recently named the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Joe Greene Award Winner as the team’s Rookie of the Year, and despite his individual success, he’s still not over falling into the second round of the draft. Talking to reporters today, Porter Jr. discussed the draft snub and said the only thing that will get the chip off his shoulder from his draft snub is winning rings.
“It still gets under my skin sometimes because I just felt I was CB1 for sure, but it didn’t pan out that way. And luckily it didn’t pan out that way, ’cause I ended up here. So I feel like it was all worth it. I feel like I elevated my game even more, ’cause I came into the league with more of a chip on my shoulder to prove myself,” Porter said via video posted to Steelers Live on Twitter.
“I need to win some rings for that to go away,” Porter said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Twitter.
Porter was widely projected to be a first-round pick, but the first round came and went with four corners off the board, but Porter didn’t hear his name called. Due to the Chase Claypool trade, Pittsburgh held the first pick of the second round and ended up with Porter Jr., the son of a team legend.
Pittsburgh was rewarded for holding onto the pick and taking Porter, who has emerged as one of the top cornerbacks in the league and Pittsburgh’s unquestioned top option at cornerback. From the time he was inserted into the starting lineup full-time in Week Seven after a standout performance in Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens, Porter has made his presence felt. He travels with the opponent’s top receivers, and more often than not, he shuts them down. DK Metcalf was the first receiver to have any measure of success against Porter this season with his performance on Sunday.
He’s more than deserving of the award despite Pittsburgh’s impressive rookie class that has also seen contributions from first-round pick Broderick Jones, along with Keeanu Benton, Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington. But Porter isn’t satisfied with his individual success, and he wants a ring just like his father won with Pittsburgh in 2005.
That’s the mindset that everyone on this team needs to have. Individual success is great, but winning a Super Bowl is the greatest achievement in football. Pittsburgh has a lot of great individual performances in recent years, but it’s all for naught as the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. They’ll have an opportunity to change that if they can get some help around the league this weekend, and it will be a lot easier if they take care of business against the Ravens on Saturday.
Porter’s breakout game came against Baltimore, and there’s no doubt that he’ll look to channel that same success on Saturday. He’s been a home run pick so far, and hopefully, he can continue to ascend and be a key part of Pittsburgh’s next Super Bowl-winning team.
