There’s no NFL draft prospect Pittsburgh Steelers fans have rallied around more than cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has this year. Many fans feel like this draft will be a failure if Pittsburgh doesn’t draft Porter in the first round no matter what else happens.
But according to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers might not be as enamored with the legacy prospect as the fans.
“They just haven’t done corner a lot in the first round, so until I see it again, and think this isn’t an Artie Burns 2.0, then I just don’t know if they would prioritize that,” said Fowler.
This makes perfect sense. The Steelers hadn’t used a first-round pick on a cornerback in 19 years before drafting Artie Burns who turned out to be a bust. In fact, the only cornerback the Steelers have drafted and developed since Ike Taylor was Cameron Sutton who just left in free agency.
Fans want to defend the talent of Porter Jr. but you have to wonder if the fanbase would be as high on Porter Jr. if his name was John Smith from the University of Idaho with the same scouting report. As Fowler points out, head coach Mike Tomlin knows him well as a prospect and according to Fowler, doesn’t value him as high as many others do.
“Mike Tomlin has a ton of institutional knowledge on Joey Porter Jr. He is considered more of a mid to late-round prospect, so him at 17 might be a little rich,”
This happens for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the Steelers do not need a cornerback this season nearly as much as they do other positions like offensive tackle and edge rusher. Tomlin understands this and he understands the depth of these positional units. He’s going to make that No. 17 pick based on what player can help the most without any consideration for family legacy or anything else.
