By the second half of his rookie season, CB Joey Porter Jr. was already covering the best wide receivers. He asked for those assignments, and the Pittsburgh Steelers granted them. To listen to him talk about that now, however, it doesn’t sound like he believes he will have that role in 2024. Not dissimilar to Steven Nelson pairing with Joe Haden, the Steelers believe Donte Jackson gives them two quality cover corners.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday if he expects to follow Atlanta Falcons WR Drake London in Week 1, Porter said, “I really don’t know”, via the Steelers’ website. “We’ve got two really good corners on each side, me and [Donte Jackson]. I feel like whatever side that he’s on or I’m on is gonna be good regardless of the situation”.
Last year, the Steelers opened the season with Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace as their starting outside cornerbacks. As you might imagine, they ran into some issues, with Porter ultimately emerging as a rookie. They have since replaced both Peterson and Wallace, acquiring Donte Jackson via trade.
The eighth-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Drake London has 141 career receptions for 1,771 yards and six touchdowns. Those aren’t earth-shattering figures, but he’s still 6-4, 213 pounds. Porter is 6-2 himself, but Jackson is on the smaller end. Still, Porter believes Jackson can handle London—he’s matched up with such guys before.
“He’s been in the league a long time”, Porter said of Jackson, who played six seasons with the Carolina Panthers before coming to Pittsburgh. “He went against various big guys like Mike Evans and everything like that in the division. He’s welcoming to the challenge, he’s not gonna back down from it. And that’s the kind of DB you want on your team”.
While Joey Porter Jr. had success as a shadow cover corner last season, the Steelers don’t seem to believe they need him to do that this year. That is one of the reasons they prioritized adding Donte Jackson, a player they’ve long coveted.
One of the issues with employing a shadow cornerback is everybody has to move with them. If Porter is covering London and London moves to the other side, Jackson has to flip, too. If the Steelers can just play sides, then either Porter or Jackson could cover him on their own side. At least theoretically, that approach reduces the odds of creating schematic errors. Although, of course, by moving London around, the Falcons will be looking to create mismatches.
In reality, Porter has had a pretty quiet offseason. We haven’t heard his name come up too much, outside of a penalty in the first preseason game. Whether that’s good or bad, it’s hard to say without seeing the follow-up.
I would imagine that Porter would prefer to shadow receivers if he had the choice. The Steelers did that for years with Ike Taylor, but he was the last long-term guy to do so. Porter could be the next one, but we’ll see. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to reveal the Steelers’ plans for him.
