In the midst of a strong second season in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is drawing national attention once again.
After a dominant rookie season that put him on the map as a true No. 1 cornerback in the NFL, Porter continues to play at a high level for the Steelers in Year 2. After a strong first half of the season, Porter found himself on former New England Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick’s All-Rookie and Second-Year Midseason Team, which he featured on the Coach Podcast with Michael Lombardi and Matt Patricia.
Porter was the only rookie or second-year Steelers player to land on the team, but he was the most deserving, joining Patriots’ cornerback Christian Gonzales and Seattle Seahawks’ cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the secondary.
“There really is a lot of good young defensive backs. We wanted versatility in this group. We wanted guys who had length on the outside, who had size. Tackling is important for us on the All-Belichick team. You gotta come up and tackle,” Lombardi said of the cornerbacks named to All-Belichick. “I really felt like Joey Porter and Christian Gonzalez — now Gonzales, I would not call him the best tackler, but he will tackle. Porter can really come up and be physical.”
After having some issues in the tackling department early on as a rookie, Porter settled in from a physically standpoint and has played well, coming downhill against the run and providing a physical presence on the boundary.
So far this season, Porter has just five missed tackles and a 13.5% missed tackles rate, which is largely in line with what he did last season. He’s around the football quite a bit, has played very well attacking downhill and tackling in space and has become a key presence for the Steelers in that aspect.
For Patricia, Porter is the type of guy you can put on the strong side of the offensive formation and let him play against the run due to his physical presence.
“Porter, we mentioned how tough he is. We can put him over on the left side for that strong side offensive right run game plan,” Patricia said.
He was a good tackler in college, and though he had some issues early on in his tenure, he’s settled in and is the exact player the Steelers were hoping for, not only coming downhill as a run defender, but in coverage, too.
On the season, Porter has played in 493 snaps, grading out at a 60.0 overall from Pro Football Focus. That includes a 62.9 overall grade in coverage, which seems rather low, considering Porter has allowed just 20 receptions on 32 targets for 234 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
He’s locking guys up, handling top matchups weekly and continues to get better and better on and off the field. He’s certainly one of the best young corners in the game from a rookie or second-year perspective, and he’s quietly among the best corners in the game, period.
