If you ask fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers who was their best rookie last season, many would say CB Joey Porter Jr. After years of mediocre to bad cornerback play over the past decade, Porter gave fans a light at the end of the tunnel last year. He oozed potential, shadowing top wide receivers and, for the most part, taking them out of the game.
After his great first season, The 33rd Team has Porter listed as a potential breakout player for the 2024 season.
“While he only made one interception, he had 10 pass breakups and allowed 46.4 percent of targets against him to be completed, the third-lowest rate in the league,” wrote Dan Pizzuta. “During the season’s first six weeks, the Steelers had one of the highest rates of man coverage at 28 percent. That bumped up to 30 percent once Porter began starting in Week 7. If there’s one way to respect a cornerback, it’s to avoid him in coverage. Porter had the seventh-lowest rate of targets per coverage snap among corners, which is partly why his raw production numbers aren’t awe-inspiring. It’s a sign of good coverage, not a lack of production. Porter will go into Year Two as the clear top corner for the Steelers defense on a pass-coverage unit that was improved this offseason.”
Joey Porter Jr. kind of fits the Ike Taylor mold. He does not get many interceptions, but he will make sure the other team’s WR1 is taken out of the game. His first game shadowing another team’s top target was in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans and DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins was held to four catches for 60 yards on 11 targets, which is certainly not bad for a rookie cornerback going up against one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers.
After this, Porter continued shadowing wide receivers and looked pretty good in almost all of those matchups. If Porter can continue to eliminate wide receivers from the game, that spells great news for the Steelers, as it will allow more time for EDGE rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith to get to the quarterback.
One thing that Joey Porter Jr. did struggle with during his rookie season, though, was penalties. Porter committed eight penalties last season, including three pass interference penalties and three defensive holdings penalties. Porter will have to clean those numbers up a little, as those are too high for a player who was sheltered for the first quarter of the season.
However, due to Porter’s physical style, he is going to commit some penalties. It is the nature of the game, especially in an offensive-oriented league. The Steelers will be able to live with some, but if it gets too consistent, it could become a problem.
With one year under his belt, Joey Porter should have learned what he needs to do better. It is hard to just chalk up a player to stardom, and I don’t want to do that with Porter, but I would be shocked if he does not take another big step forward next season. If he does breakout as Pizzuta suggests, it could help the Steelers mightily, especially down the stretch of their brutal end-of-season schedule.
