Around this time last year, there was a lot of hype around a pair of rookie corners. Joey Porter Jr. obviously panned out, receiving at least some votes for Defensive Rookie of the Year and setting himself up to be one of the top lockdown corners in the NFL in his second season. Cory Trice Jr. was receiving similar hype as a seventh-round pick, but that all came to a screeching halt when he suffered a torn ACL on the first day of padded practice at training camp.
Throughout the spring practices last year, Porter and Trice were both receiving praise as “avatar corners” due to their unnatural length and athleticism at the cornerback position. Coming up on a full year from his injury, Trice appears ready to go for the start of training camp. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Brian Batko was asked during his Monday Steelers chat if he thinks Trice will be a full-go for the first day of training camp.
“That’s a reasonable expectation given the timeline and the latest update(s) from Mike Tomlin, yes,” Batko wrote.
At the conclusion of the Steelers’ minicamp last month, head coach Mike Tomlin said via the team website, “I don’t,” when asked if he anticipates any players not being available at the start of camp. He gave the team a clean bill of health, including players like Trice and even ILB Cole Holcomb, who both suffered significant knee injuries last year. Trice was working throughout the spring practices and was recently seen working out without a knee brace.
Many viewed Trice as a much better talent than your typical seventh-round pick back when he was drafted, but an extensive injury history pushed him down (or completely off) big boards of teams around the league. It was a reasonable risk for the Steelers to take in the seventh round, but the rookie-year injury was a step in the wrong direction.
Now, he has a golden opportunity ahead of him to compete for the top backup corner spot. Especially while Cam Sutton is serving his suspension, any injury to Donte Jackson or Porter could thrust someone like Trice into significant playing time.
He will compete against veteran CB Anthony Averett and fellow second-year CB Darius Rush. Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora gave Trice a 49-percent chance of making the 53-man roster by the end of the preseason. That leaves a wide range of possible outcomes for him, from becoming the top depth option all the way to being outright released at the end of August.
He has the physical tools to develop into a solid contributor or more, but he needs to stay healthy and show enough at training camp for the team to trust him as the top corner depth. Being a full-go for the first day of training camp would be a good first step.
