Long gone are the days of Joey Porter Jr. successfully locking down the league’s top receivers on a weekly basis like he did as a rookie last season. With high expectations for year two, Porter hasn’t taken the expected step to become a top young cornerback in the league.
“He’s in a rut, man. He’s in a big rut,” said The Pat McAfee Show’s Steelers insider Mark Kaboly via 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show. “If it’s penalties, if it’s tackling now, if it’s giving up plays. I don’t know what it is. I think he’s an extremely talented individual, but you go through those lulls where nothing seems to be working, and I think he’s in one of those right now.”
His play was up and down for the first half of the season, but recently, it’s mostly been down. His last strong game was a month ago against the Baltimore Ravens.
According to Pro Football Focus, Porter allowed five receptions on eight targets into his coverage for 56 yards, including a long reception of 20 yards. It wasn’t quite as rough as some of his other recent performances, but it’s still a far cry from where he was expected to be after an impressive rookie season.
He had a chance at one point to turn his performance around with a big play in coverage against Brown, but a would-be interception was knocked out of his hands in a crucial moment of the game. It was the Eagles’ second touchdown drive in the second quarter, and a deep attempt to Brown went in and out of Porter’s hands.
It’s hard to tell exactly what happened here, and credit to Brown for knocking it away if that’s what happened. Porter did a nice job being in position to make the play, but the ball hit him in both hands. He needs to find a way to make a game-changing play there if he wants to be a top corner.
“I don’t think he lacks confidence, I mean, I guess it would have to be a lack of confidence if you’re in that position, but he doesn’t come across that way,” Kaboly said. “I don’t like how he tends to have a number of excuses.”
Porter vented his frustration in past weeks about the number of penalties getting called on him, saying he feels like there’s a target on his back. Then this week, he talked about the refs letting the Eagles push off and get away with offensive pass interference. Right or wrong, it isn’t the best look to be seeking comfort with external factors outside of his control.
One encouraging thing is the fact that he didn’t draw any penalties. That’s been a huge issue this year, and they showed him working on that in practice with DB coach Grady Brown during HBO’s Hard Knocks. Now, he needs to strike a balance of playing cleaner without giving up quality in his coverage.
Whatever rut he’s in, the Steelers need that to turn around as the road gets narrow and the playoffs inch closer.
