Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. entered the league with a chip on his shoulder. Despite being the No. 32 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, he was technically a second-round pick and this stung for the former Penn State star.
Porter came to the Steelers as a legacy player after his dad, Joey Sr., who is one of the best pass rushers in franchise history. From the moment he stepped on the field, Porter set out to prove he was the equal to or even better than the cornerbacks selected ahead of him.
And for the most part, he succeeded. Porter quickly assimilated himself into the NFL and drew the responsibility of shadowing the opposing team’s top cornerback.
According to our friends over at Touchdown Wire, this made Porter one of the best press cornerbacks in the NFL last season. They broke down Porter’s game and here’s what they had to say as they ranked him No. 6 in the league.
Porter lived up to everything Tomlin could have wanted in his rookie campaign. He lined up in press on 227 of his 876 snaps, allowing 19 catches on 37 press targets for 7.6 yards per catch, five explosive plays, no touchdowns, and one interception.
Porter can move upfield with match coverage skills, but as much as anybody on this list, his game is really about snuffing out any kind of catch with his physicality and aggression to the ball. It doesn’t matter who he’s up against; in Porter’s mind, the ball is more his than the other guy’s.
