Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. has allowed among the lowest completion percentages in the league when opposing teams have targeted him. It took him a bit of time to get into the starting lineup, but he had been a part of the plan from Day One and we all knew there would be no looking back once he was in.
Minus some early issues with his tackling, which he’s addressed, the biggest complaint one could have about Porter is that he still plays too handsy. He’s drawn an astonishing 12 penalties, most of them for defensive holding or pass interference or illegal contact.
But it’s something you live with if you get the level of play on a per-snap basis that the Steelers have seen from him. And which others have seen from him. Former All-Pro CB Richard Sherman is among his fans, he and former WR Michael Irvin agreeing that he should be in consideration for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.
“Joey Porter Jr. is making big plays”, he said on the Undisputed program, to which Irvin interjected, “He’s in that Defensive Rookie of the Year [conversation]. He’s playing very well”. That’s an all-time great cornerback and an all-time great wide receiver agreeing on the same player, both sides of the aisle.
“No question”, Sherman responded regarding Irvin’s suggestion that Porter be in the running for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. “No question he’s played really well down the stretch. They’ve trusted him against team’s number-one receivers throughout this season since he‘s been a starter”.
Selected 32nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, Porter opened the season as a dime defender before graduating to the nickel. He was a full-time starter over Levi Wallace by the middle of the season and has hardly come off the field since then, logging over 800 defensive snaps.
While he only finished the year with a single interception, he had 10 passes defensed as well. Both Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference concur that he yielded under a 50-percent completion rate when targeted. They also agree that he only surrendered one touchdown.
But is he the best rookie defender this year? You have another cornerback, Devon Witherspoon with the Seattle Seahawks. Jalen Carter of the Philadelphia Eagles has been mentioned frequently, as has Will Anderson of the Houston Texans. Another defensive back, Brian Branch of the Detroit Lions, also deserves consideration.
Only three Steelers have won the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award before. The last to do it was ILB Kendrell Bell in 2001, a player who, partly due to injuries, never lived up fully to his potential. The other two certainly did, those being LB Jack Lambert (1974) and DT Joe Greene (1969).
OLB T.J. Watt lost out to New Orleans Saints CB Marshon Lattimore in 2017 in a landslide. The only other players who received votes that year were Buffalo Bills CB Tre’Davious White and San Francisco 49ers ILB Reuben Foster. ILB Devin Bush received two votes in 2019. He is the only other Steeler to receive votes other than Jack Ham with one vote in 1971, going back to the beginning of the award in 1967.
