Joey Porter Jr. Delights Mike Tomlin with Continued Growth

The Steelers like what they see out of rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Porter played a season-high 27 snaps against the Raiders. Some of that came with the other cornerbacks on the sideline, but the Steelers played lots of dime and skinny nickel without the three safeties on the field in favor of Porter taking those snaps.

Porter has been targeted five times in 45 coverage snaps on the season. According to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed just one reception for 12 yards in those coverage snaps. He registered one pass breakup against the Browns when he made a play on an out route against Elijah Moore. With that, his passer rating allowed is 39.6, the lowest among rookie cornerbacks in the NFL.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin likes what he sees out of his rookie cornerback. The snaps he sees are still dependent upon the game flow and how the other teams do to get the Steelers into their sub-packages, but when asked, Porter has stepped up to the challenge of opposing teams.

“And so, Joey’s getting better every week,” Tomin said. “His process is getting better every week. And so, his floor is getting better in terms of his in-stadium play. Sometimes that process is aided and accelerated by guys going down as you mentioned. But his uptick in participation probably got to do more with more advantageous third down situations than Levi’s injury. I don’t know that Levi missed that many reps to be quite honest with you.”

Joey Porter Jr. got tasked with guarding star Raiders receiver Davante Adams several times. During the game, Adams went off for two touchdowns and 172 yards. But Joey Porter Jr. seemed to be the one cornerback he could not figure out. Porter got targeted three times when guarding Adams, only allowing one reception on those three targets.

His growth is taking the leaps it should as a rookie. The Steelers are trying to figure out how much is too much with the young rookie. Truthfully, he looks good out there with his length and recovery speed. But you can still see some reps where his footwork and youth bite him. That comes with the territory of being a rookie cornerback and guarding some of the best receivers in football. But Porter is never scared of the challenge, which makes him uniquely equipped to continue his strides throughout his rookie season.