How many seventh-round picks who didn’t play in their rookie season have gotten as much hype as Cory Trice Jr. has since he joined the Steelers? I don’t have the exact answer for you, but it can’t be many.
Zoom out on the situation, and it seems almost foolish. Guys taken as late as Trice rarely contribute to NFL rosters, and that’s not even taking into account his missed rookie season.
But there are certainly reasons to be optimistic for Trice. He impressed the coaching staff as well as the fan base last summer prior to his ruptured ACL in August. His size also makes him an intriguing fit for this defense, as he would potentially be playing across from Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers brass hasn’t exactly been shy when talking about their prototypical corner, and it’s clear they are prioritizing Trice’s type of build at the position.
Trice has earned himself at least one vocal believer inside the Steelers locker room, in Joey Porter Jr. himself. Porter Jr. talked about Trice’s potential journey after OTAs on Thursday in a video provided by Steelers.com.
“I’m just telling him the same thing, if I could do it, I know you could do it.” Porter said. “We are basically the same body type. I’ve been watching this film. He’s been watching my film since college. So we know what we can do on the field and we are just trying to do that same thing on the field together.”
Mike Tomlin has tended to not give rookies a ton of playing time right off the bat, but Porter forced his way onto the field by the middle of last season with his strong play. He ended up starting 11 games, and while he only had one interception, it was a big one, helping Pittsburgh steal a game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. More important than any statistics, however, was the fact that Porter proved he could hang in the league. There have been huge question marks around the position in Pittsburgh for a while, but now it looks like Porter is a big-time answer on one side of the field, likely for a long time.
However, the question mark remains on the other side of the field. Who is going to play across from Porter, both in the long term and the short term? There’s far from a clear answer, and crazier things have happened than Trice taking that spot over. Looking at Porter’s rookie season, it’s clear that guys of that build and skill set can contribute right away to this defense. And if Trice can be half of what Porter was last season, chalk it up as a win for this team.
