The Pittsburgh Steelers selected CB Joey Porter Jr. with the first pick of the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, hoping he would follow in his father, Joey Porter Sr.’s footsteps and become another great defender for the team.
Based off his rookie season, Porter took a good step towards doing just that. Porter started in 11 of the Steelers 17 regular season games, improving as the season progressed. Towards the latter half of the season, Pittsburgh relied on him heavily, with Porter playing every defensive down for the team in seven of their final nine games. Porter would receive a heavy workload in the Steelers’ 31-17 postseason loss to the Buffalo Bills, logging 49 defensive snaps.
The Steelers’ reliance on him wasn’t without reason, as Porter really found his stride as the year went on. He did enough to be ranked 27th in Pro Football Network’s top 32 cornerback rankings, published Friday.
“Joey Porter Jr. got better as his rookie season progressed, and he looks to have a very bright future ahead of him in Pittsburgh like his father, former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter Sr.” the Pro Football Network staff described in their analysis. “Porter had a crucial pick of Lamar Jackson in the fourth quarter against the Ravens last year, which set up a game-winning touchdown in a Steelers win.”
Porter’s interception in that game was very important, and it might have been the key to earning more playing time throughout the rest of the season. In that game, Porter played 28 snaps, 40 percent of the total defensive snaps throughout the game.
After his game-changing interception, Porter never had a showing in which he saw less than 78 percent of the team’s defensive snaps throughout the rest of his rookie season. At this point, he’s certainly earned the trust of the coaching staff.
That rookie season ended up being impressive for Porter. While he couldn’t grab another interception after that win against the Baltimore Ravens, he did manage to record 10 passes defended on the year.
Porter was targeted 63 times and allowed just 30 receptions. He gave up 449 total yards and only one touchdown in coverage. Porter allowed just a 70.1 passer rating when targeted, showing just how difficult he made life on opposing quarterbacks.
At 27th, Porter was ahead of Cam Taylor-Britt (28th), Asante Samuel Jr. (29th) and Kenny Moore II (30th). He came in just behind some more established veterans such as Stephon Gilmore (26th), Darious Williams (25th) and Darius Slay (24th). Despite being in his second year, Porter is also acting like a veteran himself, helping his fellow teammates out in practice.
With his performance during his rookie season, Porter seems to be following in his father’s footsteps as the franchise’s next great defender. Pittsburgh’s AFC North rivals have some talented receivers, including Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Amari Cooper. They’ll need Porter to be impressive again in his sophomore campaign.
