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The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to bounce back after a somewhat disappointing 2023 campaign, and all eyes are going to be on their reworked quarterback position. Of course, they have quite a few talented players elsewhere on their roster, with one of the best being young cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who is fresh off an encouraging rookie campaign with the Steelers.
Porter was the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he ended up having a solid first season in the league (43 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 10 PD). It's clear Porter is a developing talent for Pittsburgh, but he doesn't appear to see it that way. In his eyes, he's already the best cornerback in the league, as made abundantly clear with this very confident answer.
“Me for sure. There are a lot of good DBs in this league. Nobody was doing what I was doing going against WR1s the entire year and locking him down. I don’t care if I am mentioned in there or not because they are going to hear my name eventually.” – Joey Porter Jr., The Athletic
Joey Porter Jr.'s best cornerback belief will turn heads
Talk about a bold answer from Porter. While he definitely showed a lot of potential as a rookie, nobody would list him above the likes of guys like Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain II, and DaRon Bland. Well, nobody except Porter himself, who bestowed this big title upon himself without as much as a second thought.
The issue is that Porter has a lot of room to grow to catch up with these other studs. While he largely held his own when the ball was thrown his way, allowing just a 47.6 completion percentage and a 70.1 passer rating on passes where he was the nearest defender, he wasn't a starter until Week 7, and he didn't even finish in the top three when it came to the voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Porter could very well be on a track to being one of the top cornerbacks in the game, but that title is currently reserved for a perennial All-Pro like Garnder or Surtain. There's no shame in not being in that class just yet, and a strong sophomore campaign to follow up the work he did as a rookie could help Porter gain entry into that conversation.
For now, though, Porter is going to have to keep on proving that he can back up this big claim with more strong play on the field. He's going to be a Week 1 starter this year, and after keeping some big name wideouts quiet last year, he's going to find himself guarding them once again. Porter isn't the best cornerback in the NFL just yet, but he could become part of the conversation if he can continue to improve in 2024.
