The slow maturation of CB Joey Porter Jr. is just one of the many disappointments of the Steelers’ season so far. While he is not playing poorly overall, and in fact has gotten his hands on footballs at the highest rate of his career, he still hasn’t shown strong enough indications of being a true No. 1 cornerback.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, however, believes it’s still in there—the talent required to reach that level. The problem, rather, is the absence of the proper instruction to bring it out. As fans lament the many things that ail the Steelers, Fittipaldo says moving Porter to the slot is not viable. “I just think he needs to be coached up”, he said on a recent chat. “He has the talent, but it’s not coming through”.
Since the Steelers selected Joey Porter Jr. in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, they have juggled the cornerback room. His rookie year, they had Grady Brown as their secondary coach. Gerald Alexander was the assistant coach, but this offseason, they brought him back after he left in 2024. And they named him the secondary coach, parting with Brown.
Evaluating position coaches is always difficult, unless the difference smacks you in the face. We know the impact Mike Munchak had on the Steelers’ offensive line, for example. And we know the impact that Shaun Sarrett had, as well. That is one obviously positive example, and one obviously negative example. But how can we concretely say that Joey Porter Jr. is being held back by his coaching?
We know Porter is talented. We know Porter has the pedigree and the wherewithal. There are plenty of plays he does make, and his work in coverage on the whole is respectable. His dropped interceptions are frustrating, but that’s not even a central issue. How he performs on a down-in, down-out basis is what’s really at question.
What do the numbers say? Let’s look at two resources. According to Pro Football Focus, Porter has allowed 17 receptions on 32 targets for 173 yards with 0 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 7 passes defensed.
Per Pro Football Reference, he has allowed 18 catches on 33 targets for 188 yards. The other numbers are the same, only PFR credits him with 10 passes defensed. That would tie his career high of 10 that he had during his rookie season, via PFR. PFF only credited him with six passes defensed his rookie year, so he’s already at his career high.
In theory, Joey Porter Jr. should be in a spectacular position from a growth and development standpoint. His head coach, Mike Tomlin, cut his teeth as a defensive backs coach, as did DC Teryl Austin. In his locker room, he has two all-time great cornerbacks as resources in Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay. As a rookie, he had Patrick Peterson upon which to lean, and he considers Ike Taylor his “uncle”.
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