Steelers' Joey Porter Jr. Has A Fierce And Tenacious Mindset That Mike Tomlin Admires

The Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately had another disappointing season in 2023 as they failed to win a playoff game and lost in the Wild Card Round, again. Despite the sad ending to the team's season, there were some silver linings. The running back duo of Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris is elite, George Pickens has proven to be one of the better wide receivers in the league, and the Steelers rookie class was one of the best in the NFL. Broderick Jones and Keeanu Benton are on track to be above average starters for Pittsburgh, and Joey Porter Jr. was already following the opponents elite wide receivers in coverage.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin Impressed With Porter Jr's Mindset

Coming into the 2023 season, it was known that Porter Jr. would be coming off the bench for the first part of the year. He didn't make his first start until Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, where he only gave up 22 yards to the duo of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. He earned his spot in the starting lineup with his impressive performance against the Rams, and Porter Jr. eventually began to follow the opponent's best receiver all over the field. Mike Tomlin spoke during his end-of-season press conference about his confidence and excitement for Porter Jr. moving forward. 

"I'm really excited about the trajectory of his career. Probably the most impressive component about where he is is his mindset. He wants the fight, he wants the tough coverage, he's extremely competitive in that way and that is a great place to build from. He's got growth, obviously, ahead of him, but that's real solid."

Porter Jr. did in fact show that he still has room to grow multiple times throughout this season. He had a big issue with penalties and being too aggressive on the opponents receiver. He was called for 11 total penalties in 2023. Eight of the penalties were accepted, and four of them even came in the same game against the Tennessee Titans. He got better with the penalties as the season went along, so hopefully it won't be an issue again in 2024. 

Even though there was some bad with Porter Jr. in 2023, there was a lot of good. He began following the opposing team's best receiver in Week 9 against the Titans, when he followed DeAndre Hopkins all over the field in coverage. He allowed just two receptions in the six times he was targeted and allowed a passer rating of 61.8. This was also the game he was penalized a bunch, but he made up for it by locking down Hopkins which helped lead to a Steelers win. 

Porter Jr. was making plays for the Steelers prior to becoming a starter. In Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns, he had the game clinching pass break-up that forced the Browns to turn the ball over on downs and the gave the Steelers the ability to knee the ball until the end of the game. Porter Jr. was once again a hero for the Steelers in an AFC North battle in Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens when he intercepted Lamar Jackson in the end zone which was a big factor in the Steelers victory. 

All in all, Porter Jr. still has some work to do, but he has certainly started his NFL career off on the right foot. Throughout the entire season he allowed a passer rating of just 70.1, which is lower than Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley Jr., who were both graded in the top-five cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus. Porter Jr. has certainly put his name in the conversation when it comes to some of the better cornerbacks in the NFL, and if he is able to continue this kind of play and limit some of his mistakes, the sky will be the limit for his NFL career.