Pittsburgh Steelers fans discovered the name “Joey Porter” long before the Steelers made the Penn State cornerback the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That’s because Joey Porter Jr. was a ball boy for the Steelers when his father, Joey Porter Sr., was on the Steelers coaching staff under Mike Tomlin. That was after Porter Sr. spent eight years in Pittsburgh as an outside linebacker, helping the Steelers win the Super Bowl championship in 2006, their first in 26 seasons. He made three Pro Bowls and led the Steelers in both sacks and forced fumbles during that Super Bowl season. Porter Sr. is a key figure in an era of Steelers football defined by its defense, but he didn’t start a single game during his rookie season. This is one area where Jr. already has a head start on Pops.
Joey Porter Jr. has seen his snap percentage increase each of the last three weeks, including last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, where the rookie corner was in the Steelers’ starting lineup for the first time. times. This was only two weeks after Porter Jr. made a A game-changing interception in the red zone against bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.
Porter Jr.’s ascension to Pittsburgh’s starting lineup is no doubt due in part to his play on the field, but also due to an injury that kept Levi Wallace out of the game against Jacksonville. After the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked if Porter Jr. had done enough to retain the starting job in the future. Tomlin, a subscriber to Teddy Roosevelt’s theory of “speak softly and carry a big stick,” had little to say on the subject, but he seemed to indicate that the job belonged to the beginner, according to Ari Meirov from the 33rd team.
It only seems right that Joey Porter Jr. plays for the same franchise his father was a three-time All-Pro for, and you know that when the Steelers selected the corner with a de facto first-round pick, they considered the same thing. level of success for him.
