Steelers All 90: Joey Porter Jr. Brings Needed Length to Secondary

The Pittsburgh Steelers really went to work to retool their secondary this offseason and one of the main additions was a familiar face, Joey Porter Jr. Porter watched his father win the Super Bowl with the Steelers, grew up right down the road, and attended North Allegheny High School. Now, the hometown kid will be in Pittsburgh through at least the 2026 season.

The thing about being drafted to his father’s team is a lot of extra eyes on him, including his father’s. Porter Sr. attended the team’s final week of OTAs but it showed Porter Jr. how their connection will be moving forward, at least in regard to his profession.

“He really just tries to stay in his lane and let me do me,” Porter Jr. said. “He doesn’t want to overwork it or overhype anything. That’s the perfect thing about it. He understands me, that I need my space, and he was just a visitor today.”

The thing about not only Porter but the other rookie cornerback, Cory Trice Jr., is that they are very tall, long cornerbacks. They even started to be called “avatar” cornerbacks due to their size and length. Newly signed Patrick Peterson even remarked on the duo’s potential and what gets him excited about the pair.

“To have both of these young, as Coach likes to call them, ‘Avatar’ cornerbacks, it’s gonna be special, man,” Peterson said. “These guys, both of them, they want to learn. They want to get as much knowledge that they need to be successful.”

While Porter only hauled in one collegiate interception in his time at Penn State, the Steelers wanted the longer cornerback due to what the team lacked a season ago. Last year, the Steelers secondary struggled with the deep ball especially early on in the year. Steelers defensive backs coach Grady Brown stated that with lengthier cornerbacks, the quarterback’s throwing window gets that much smaller, especially on deep balls.

“They cover a lot of ground and occupy space,” Brown said. “They’re long on the deep ball. That was an issue for us at the start of the year. When the ball is thrown down the field, long guys get even longer. So, the quarterback has to throw the ball even further. Whereas a guy at 5-foot-10, you might be able to throw it over his hand. Imagine how much longer Joey or Trice is right now. So, that’s a smaller window. If we can get them to turn their heads and play the ball, they should help us in that deep ball phase.”

Porter signed his rookie contract a day before making the trip to Saint Vincent College for training camp and got the deal that he wanted. Now, he will turn his complete attention to winning a starting spot in the secondary.

24 • Joey Porter Jr., Cornerback, Penn State
6-foot-2, 194 pounds, 22 years old, 1st Season

Acquired: The Steelers drafted Porter with the 32nd overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers received the pick from the Chicago Bears in exchange for Chase Claypool.

While pick No. 32 is usually the last pick of the first round, the Miami Dolphins forfeited their first-round pick due to tampering violations which made the first round only have 31 picks this year.

Last season: As a redshirt senior in 2022, Porter started 10 games at cornerback for Penn State. In his 10 starts, he logged 27 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and a fumble recovery. He finished third in the Big Ten and 32nd nationally with his 11 pass breakups. Following the season, Porter was named second-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten. Additionally, Porter won the team’s Most Valuable Defensive Player.

Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. (9) celebrates during fourth-quarter action of the Nittany Lions game with Wisconsin. The No.19 Nittany Lions defeated No.12 Wisconsin, 16-10 to open the 2021 season on the road at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, WI. Photo by Mark Selders

College: After his senior season at North Allegheny High School, Porter decided to stay close to home and committed to Penn State University. As a true freshman in 2019, Porter appeared in just four games which allowed him to keep his redshirt. In those four contests, Porter made three tackles and defended one pass.

Porter started eight games in 2020 as he racked up 33 tackles and four passes defended. Porter tallied a season-high six tackles in a game against Rutgers in 2020. Following the season, Porter was named third-team All-Big Ten by the media and honorable mention All-Big Ten by the league’s coaches.

Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. (9) celebrates after stopping Indiana during second-quarter action. No. 4/6 Nittany Lions shut out the Hoosiers, 24-0 on Saturday night October 2, 2021at Beaver Stadium in the annual Penn State Stripe Out game.
Photo by Mark Selders

In 2021, Porter made 13 starts at cornerback for the Nittany Lions and had the best overall season of his collegiate career. He logged 51 total tackles, five passes defended, one forced fumble, and his first collegiate interception. His first interception came in a game against Indiana during the 2021 season. After the season, Porter earned third-team All-Big Ten honors by the league’s coaches and honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.

In total at Penn State, Porter appeared in 35 contests and recorded 31 of those matchups. He tallied 114 tackles, one interception, 21 passes defended, and one forced fumble. Additionally, Porter set the Penn State record and tied the Big Ten record for most passes broken up in a single game with six against Purdue.

Salary cap and future: The final details of the contract, including the payment schedule of the signing bonus and the level of guaranteed salary in the final year of the deal, were the sticking points. Porter’s full deal is worth $9.618 million over four seasons, with his entire bonus paid at signing and 70% of his fourth-year salary guaranteed.

Porter is signed with the team through the end of the 2026 season. when he will become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

The rest of the 90: