What the Pittsburgh Steelers Are Getting in Joey Porter, Jr.
Penn State's Joey Porter, Jr. waited longer than he anticipated but on Friday still became the highest-drafted cornerback in program history at the 2023 NFL Draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Porter with the first pick of the second round, bringing the Pittsburgh product home to play professionally.
Porter, whose father Joey played linebacker for the Steelers, played high school football at North Allegheny High near Pittsburgh. As a kid he played one-on-one coverage games against former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown and is close friends with Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin's sons.
"I think it would probably mean a lot to me and my family," Porter said at the NFL Combine of being drafted by the Steelers. "I've been in the Pittsburgh area for a little bit now, so staying home would mean a lot."
Porter is the 29th Penn State player drafted by Pittsburgh, the most of any NFL franchise. And at No. 32 overall, he is Pittsburgh's highest pick from Penn State since selecting Franco Harris at No. 13 in 1972.
Porter, who made five All-America teams as a junior at Penn State, brings plug-and-play starting qualities to the NFL. He's 6-2, 194 pounds with a wingspan that makes him a frustrating coverage matchup for nearly any receiver. Porter held opponents to a 34.6 completion rate in man coverage last season and allowed an overall completion rate of just 42.3 percent.
Here's what the Steelers are getting in Porter.
Strengths
Porter is the cornerback prototype: 6-2, big wingspan, athletic and with an ancestry coded in defense (his father Joey was an All-Pro NFL linebacker). He was the draft's top-ranked cornerback in hand-on-ball percentage (2.9%) and yards per coverage snap, according to Sports Info Solutions. Further, he's undaunted by work. A 3-star prospect in high school, Porter worked through a quiet freshman season to become one of Penn State's top defenders as a sophomore.
"His long arms allow him to knock receivers off their mark and enable him to get his hands on a lot of tipped balls," NFL Draft Bible wrote in its evaluation. "Porter is also asked to play quite a bit of zone coverage and has no problem adapting due to his natural football instincts. In addition, he can help out in the run game, as evidenced by his 50 tackles [as a junior]."
Don't overlook the "quite confidence" to which Penn State's coaching staff pointed. Further, his decision to return for the 2022 season helped round Porter into a complete player.
Weaknesses
Porter's penchant for playing "grabby" was well documented through six pass-interference penalties during his junior year. He cleaned up those aspects but some longer-term issues emerged. Questions about Porter's physicality (floated this week by NBC's Peter King) have begun trailing the cornerback since the season ended and might have contributed to slide out of the first round. Further, Sports Info Solutions rated Porter pretty low in some broad metrics like total points rating per play (29th) and total points per game (34th) Porter also made just one interception in two years as a starter at Penn State, which might simply be a data point but still one evaluators noted.
Porter on Porter
"You're going to get a competitor that likes to compete at anything he do. I kind of get down like my dad on the field and like my mom off the field, so I'll say that's a good mix."
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