Like his father, Joey Porter Jr. isn’t lacking confidence in himself. Though he’s only entering his second year and has only been a starter for half a season, Porter believes he’s the best cornerback in football.
“Me, for sure,” he said per The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly when asked who the top corner in the game is.
At the least, Porter is certainly the best cornerback on his team. After falling to the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft, Porter came into his rookie season with a chip on his shoulder. The Steelers slow-played his initial role, only utilizing him in obvious passing situations, but ramped him up when they needed to. His first amount of serious playing time came in a crucial Week 5 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Porter played a key role in the Steelers mounting a comeback, picking off a jump ball in the end zone intended for Odell Beckham Jr.
A touchdown from the Ravens likely seals their win. Instead, the ball went back to the Steelers and on the ensuing drive, QB Kenny Pickett hit WR George Pickens for the game-winning 41-yard touchdown.
Porter earned his first official start in Week 8 and by Week 9, was shadowing top wide receivers. That included a second-half lockdown performance of DeAndre Hopkins to beat the Tennessee Titans, Porter asking during the week to take him on throughout the game. Porter is the first corner to consistently shadow opposing wideouts since Ike Taylor and is the reason why he considers himself the best of the best.
“Nobody was doing what I was doing, going against WR1s the entire year and locking (them) down,” Porter said to Kaboly via NFL.com’s Eric Edholm.
According to our defensive charting, Porter allowed just a 53.0 QB rating against, the top mark of any qualifying Steelers defensive back. In comparison, Patrick Peterson had a 79.4 rating against while Levi Wallace sat at 90.6.
Porter enters 2024 as the team’s clear-cut No. 1 corner. He will continue to shadow and match up against the top opposing wideout, starting with the Atlanta Falcons’ Drake London in Week 1. He faces a tough slate of receivers this season including the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase twice, the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown, the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb, and the Cleveland Browns’ Amari Cooper in their two divisional games. Count on Porter being confident to accept the challenge.
