Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. has shadowed top targets for the majority of his career. While he tried to play coy about that being the plan going into his second season with Donte Jackson as his new running mate, he has continued that same role in 2024. With the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb up next though, there is a question of how much Porter will follow him. Or more accurately, to where.
“I don’t know if I’ll be traveling in the slot or not”, Porter acknowledged, via Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We know [Lamb] likes to move around a lot. Our whole goal is trying to minimize him getting the ball. Whatever that is by gameday, we will try to do it to the best of our ability. He and Dak have had a good tandem going on for a while now. They are definitely our main objective”.
Unlike many No. 1 WRs, CeeDee Lamb does spend a lot of time in the slot. During the 2024 season, he has played 111 snaps in the slot versus 100 out wide. Notably, however, he has not been at his best in the slot this year. Perhaps Joey Porter Jr. can take advantage of that fact should he follow inside.
According to Pro Football Focus, Lamb has faced 15 passing targets from the slot, catching eight passes with two drops. He has 61 receiving yards and is 0-for-5 on contested catch opportunities. Last year, however, he dominated from the slot, and Porter should bear that in mind. He caught 77 of 113 slot targets for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns, ranking second, first, and first.
Interestingly, Pro Football Focus has Porter graded horribly in man coverage this season. Yet he has only faced four targets, allowing three catches for 39 yards and a forced incompletion. He has logged three slot snaps in coverage so far, allowing one catch on one target for six yards.
The thing is, the Steelers don’t have a great option for covering the slot right now. Rookie college free agent Beanie Bishop Jr. has taken nearly all of their slot coverage snaps so far. On 80 snaps, he has allowed 9 catches on 14 targets for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Porter and Donte Jackson have combined for seven snaps.
Through the first four weeks, Joey Porter Jr. hasn’t had to follow any receivers who play a ton of snaps in the slot. They all do to some degree, like Drake London and Michael Pittman Jr., but none in comparison to CeeDee Lamb.
This will be an interesting test to see how extensive Porter’s responsibilities go. Do the Steelers trust him to follow an elite receiver into the slot, where he doesn’t have much experience? The fact that their alternative is Beanie Bishop may help sway them. Odds are they will come up with a variety of disguised coverages to provide protection, either way.
