Joey Porter Jr. was the young rising CB1 on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, but he might have to bide his time in covering No. 2 receivers for now. Jalen Ramsey is in town, and Mike Tomlin made it clear to them who is the top dog.
Ramsey was asked if there was a struggle for hierarchy in the CB room when he first signed via The Pivot Podcast.
“They know who going first,” Ramsey said. “[Darius] Slay already knew what type of time [it was], Slay chill. Slay like, ‘Man, y’all got it.’ With Joe, he like, ‘Nah Jay, I need that.'” Ramsey said. “I’m like, ‘After me though. You gonna get that action, after me.’… All three of us, we sat with Mike T. at the beginning of camp and we had good conversations and he even kind of butted in and told Joe too, ‘Hey, Jay gonna be the guy right now.'”
Porter was one of the best lockdown corners in the league as a rookie. He didn’t have the second year that many hoped for, but he was still very good outside of his penalty issues. It’s rare that a team would knock a player like that off the path toward becoming a top CB1 in the league, but Ramsey is a worthy player to do it.
When asked about the CB hierarchy at the beginning of camp, Porter mentioned Tomlin’s conversation with the CB group. He didn’t mention what Ramsey just revealed, but he said he was assured they would all three be on the field together as much as possible.
It’s a good thing to hear Porter feels slighted by what he could perceive as a demotion. Corners need to feel like they are the best player on the field, so he absolutely has the right attitude. And this will only push him to work harder with two excellent players to learn from in Ramsey and Slay.
The way that the Steelers intend on moving Ramsey around the defense, Porter will still get plenty of opportunities to guard top receivers. If Ramsey is aligned as a safety, Porter will very likely pull the top matchup on the outside. That versatility and depth will only make them more dangerous as a defense.
One of the biggest tests the Steelers will face is against the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The $124 million trio is one of the reasons that the Steelers wanted to construct such a strong and versatile secondary.
Make no mistake who will be guarding last year’s triple-crown WR, Ja’Marr Chase.
“That’s me,” Ramsey said. “That’s Jay. That’s five for now. That’s five. I know that’s what Joey want as well. And he gonna get his opps, but that’s five right now.”
If there was any question about who is going to be shadowing No. 1 WRs, Ramsey just answered it.
