Pittsburgh Steelers fans were introduced to 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. This was after Porter Sr. spent eight years in Pittsburgh as an outside linebacker, helping to lead the Steelers to a 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 from an era of Steelers football defined by its defense, but he didn't start a single game during his rookie season. That's one area where Jr. already has a leg up on Pops.

Joey Porter Jr. has seen his snap percentage go up each of the last three weeks, including in last week's loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where the rookie corner was in the Steelers starting lineup for the first time. This was only two weeks after Porter Jr. made a game-changing red zone interception against bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.

Porter Jr.'s ascension into Pittsburgh's starting eleven is no doubt partially due to his play on the field, but also because of 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 moving forward. Tomlin, a subscriber of the Teddy Roosevelt theory of ‘speaking softly and carrying a big stick,' didn't have much to say on the topic, but he did seem to indicate that the job belonged to the rookie, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.

It just feels right that Joey Porter Jr. is playing for the very 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 1st round pick, they envisioned the same level of success for him.