Football isn’t always linear. Despite the coaching adage, it’s not always about getting one percent better. Some players, the ones destined to play on Sundays, are capable of exponential results. Giant leaps and bounds in their play. Such is the case for Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. Just ask former teammate Tariq Castro-Fields.
Teammates at Penn State, Castro-Fields was asked about Porter’s college arc.
“We got this Joey Porter kid. He’s gonna be a great one,” Castro-Fields told The Sitdown’s Ernest Walker and Jordan Miner, referring to Porter’s hype coming onto campus. “He’s guarding AB at the Steelers practice, all that…So when he first got to school, I think he still had to learn like how to move and his coordination. Because he just got done playing receiver.”
Porter, the son of Joey Porter Sr. who played and eventually coached the Steelers, took a few reps against Brown over the years. Not during actual Steelers practices, to be clear, but messing around before or after, the chance for a teenager to see what the peak of receiver play was like.
As Castro-Fields notes, Porter played plenty of wide receiver in high school. Per MaxPreps, Porter caught 14 passes and four touchdowns in 2016 at North Catholic. Transferring to North Allegheny, he caught four more combined scores across his junior and season seasons. But cornerback came clearer into view, and he attended Penn State to play in the secondary.
Once Porter got comfortable going backward instead of forward, his play rocketed into stardom.
“But once we got to that 2020 year, something switched, bro.”
Despite a COVID-shortened year, Porter played in eight games, recording 33 tackles and four pass breakups. Castro-Fields referenced a play in the first game of the year that showed Porter had become a more impactful hitter, something every WR lacks, but every DB needs. His transformation was complete.
“I think it was his third play of the season. We set a corner blitz off…He hit him in the blindside. His left side. I’m like, ‘yeah, he’s meant for this.'”
Because you know we’re nothing but thorough, here’s a look at the play against Indiana (a game the Hoosiers would pull off a stunning overtime upset).
Ultimately, Joey Porter’s production was never flashy, a product of teams hesitant to throw the ball his way. But he became a top college corner and eventual top-32 pick. The confidence Porter gained early in his career has fueled him since.
“Once he had that real confidence where he felt like no one could really say nothing to him. He don’t care about nothing. I already knew he was gonna do great.”
So far, so good for Joey Porter Jr., coming off an impressive first year for the Steelers and will enter his sophomore NFL season as the team’s No. 1 corner. Castro-Fields will look to stick in the NFL with the Washington Commanders, appearing in eight games for the team last season.
