After stepping into the starting lineup in Week 8 of the 2023 season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback Joey Porter Jr. quickly established himself as one of the best younger cornerbacks in football.
Now, he’s aiming to take that next step in Year 2 into truly elite territory.
Speaking with reporters Thursday following an Organized Team Activity session at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, Porter said that his goal for the 2024 season is to just keep getting better while dominating.
“Just keep getting better. Keep stacking up what I did from last year,” Porter said to reporters, according to video on Twitter via YardBarker’s Aaron Becker. “I always want to follow the top guys and dominate. So that’s what I’m looking forward to doing this year.”
Last season, Porter took on the tough assignment of handling the opponent’s top passing-game weapon weekly. He more than handled his own. Porter became a true lockdown cornerback, consistently taking away opponents’ top receiver each and every week. He was quite impressive in the role as that physical, shutdown corner, though he did have some struggles with some penalties at times.
In his rookie season, Porter finished with a 65.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 806 snaps. Porter had a 67.9 grade in coverage, allowing just 25 receptions for 384 yards a touchdown while breaking up six passes and recording one interception. That came late in the Week 5 win at Acrisure Stadium over the Baltimore Ravens when he stepped in front of a pass in the end zone intended for Odell Beckham Jr.
Though he was really good in coverage on the season, allowing the second-lowest completion percentage of any defensive back in football at 45.2%, he struggled with missed tackles and penalties. Porter cleaned the missed tackles up after becoming a full-time starter, missing just one tackle from Week 10 on, but the penalties continued to rise as he finished the season with 12 penalties on the season.
Entering Year 2, Porter now knows how the NFL game is going to be called from a physical aspect at the cornerback position, so he should be able to make the adjustment.
If he can build off a strong rookie season and ascend into that dominant CB1 status, taking away the opponent’s top weapon weekly, the Steelers will be in great shape at the cornerback position for the foreseeable future.
