Early in his career, one of the weakest spots in Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr.’s game was tackling. Throughout his rookie season, Porter was a liability in that department, missing tackles left and right in limited playing time.
Eventually, he cleaned it up and now is a consistent tackler in the open field, and is a strong downhill corner in run support, which is something he has to be playing in the AFC North.
Appearing on The Christian Kuntz Podcast that published Thursday morning, Porter talked about tackling and the mentality needed playing in the AFC North to defend the run, while also recalling how he struggled as a rookie and how his dad, Joey Porter Sr., would get on his case until he improved.
“Especially in our division, they gonna try to find a weak link and if you’re turning down tackles, they’re going at you the whole game. And that’s the game plan and that’s just what it is in the North,” Porter said regarding the physicality of the division and the importance of tackling, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “So like that’s what I always say about why I love Pittsburgh football, is ’cause it taught you that throughout high school. Like, we’re running the ball. Like, we don’t care if you could stop it or not. We’re gonna run this football. And I felt like that was the same case at Big Ten football. We’re running the ball regardless.
“Like Michigan, all these other teams that we’re facing and we’re toting the rock. So, going to the North, it’s pretty much the same thing, you know? They’re not letting nothing slide.”
Though there is plenty of star power in the division, particularly at quarterback and receiver, the AFC North remains a rugged, old-school, smashmouth division at its core. Teams want to run the football and wear defenses down, imposing their will snap after snap.
Early in his career, Porter struggled with that even after making the jump from the Big Ten. At one point in the Penn State product’s rookie year, based on charting done here at Steelers Depot, Porter had a 25% missed tackles rate, which was quite alarming.
That was happening all while playing limited snaps behind Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace. Ultimately, though, Porter cleaned up the tackling issues and finished with just a 12.3% missed tackles rate that season.
Then, in Year 2 Porter had just a 10.6% missed tackles rate, continuing to improve as a tackler.
“Like, if you’re not making those tackles or if you’re not willing to put your body in there, you’re not going to be on the field,” Porter said. “And I [had] to learn that my rookie year, especially just from my dad. Like, my dad would be like, ‘Bro, what are you doing?’ Like, come on.’ So I had to go through my learning stages of that myself my rookie year.
“After that it’s been smooth, but it’s definitely something that is in the North for sure.”
While the Steelers struggled to stop the run down the stretch last season and were gashed, particularly by the Baltimore Ravens in Weeks 16 and their Wild Card Round loss, Porter had his moments from a physicality perspective. Coming downhill against the run and tackling well, he missed just one tackle in the final three games of the season.
Entering Year 3, he’s one of the more consistent, steady tacklers in the secondary, especially at cornerback. That wasn’t always the case with him, especially as a rookie.
But that’s a testament to the growth he’s made in that department, along with getting the right mentality to play in the AFC North.
Check out the full Porter interview on The Christian Kuntz Podcast below.
