Rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. has really come along over the course of his rookie season. He has appeared in all 16 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season with 10 starts. He didn’t take over as a starter until Week Eight against the Jacksonville Jaguars following an injury to Levi Wallace. He really came into his own in Week Nine during a tough matchup against DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is known as one of the most talented receivers in the league and Porter held him to one reception for five yards on five targets. That began a trend of Porter following around opposing teams’ top receivers.
“The good thing is he’s done well,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Wednesday via transcripts of the press conference provided by the team. “But he’s got so much room for improvement. He could be so much of a better player…he’s got a lot of room to jump and improve, and you’ve got to push him that way.”
Given how well he has performed in his rookie season, the idea that he could make a leap to another level of play is an exciting prospect. Beyond being one of the best rookie corners in football, Porter’s play stacks up well to all players at the position leaguewide. Jrfortgang recently posted a chart on X that shows all corners’ average separation allowed in zone and man coverage and Porter is in the upper-right quadrant of the chart, signifying he is excelling in both areas. While he has been billed as a physical press-man corner, his skills as a zone defender have been pleasantly surprising.
Beyond Hopkins, he has taken on some of the other best receivers in the league like Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Amari Cooper, and DK Metcalf. Last week’s matchup against Metcalf was the first time Porter has allowed over 40 yards to a receiver in coverage in a single game. Given the level of competition, that is extremely impressive. Cameron Heyward spoke to the media after practice on Wednesday in a clip posted by 93.7 The Fan on X and said, “You usually don’t hear anything about their top receivers,” in talking about Porter matching up with some of the league’s best.
“The bottom line is he’s going to have some success,” Austin said during weekly coordinator media availability. “But he knows, and we know, there’s lots of things on tape that can be a lot better. If you’re not always improving in this league, you’re going to fall back, and people are going to catch up to you and pass you.”
One of the major areas of improvement for Porter is playing clean football. He has been penalized eight times this season for 75 yards. When he is playing as well as he is, you take the good with the bad, but it will be something for him to clean up as he works toward for the future.
