Joey Porter Jr. had massive expectations on his shoulder final 12 months. He was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 nook, coming off a promising rookie season. Whereas he wasn’t unhealthy, he didn’t blossom like some might need anticipated him to. Porter had ups and downs all year long. He doesn’t appear to be making any main modifications to his recreation, although.
“Simply cleansing up the little stuff that I watched on tape,” Porter stated Wednesday after an OTA session by way of the workforce’s web site. “After I return on tape, there’s nothing actually drastic that stands out. There’s no person that’s on the market beating me by yards.
“So, it’s simply the little issues that I want to scrub up in my approach, and I really feel like I’ve been engaged on that this complete offseason. I’m simply actually simply excited to place that on tape.”
Final season, Porter did a comparatively good job in protection. His greatest difficulty was penalties. Oftentimes, he was too grabby. He’s a giant, bodily nook, in order that’s probably all the time going to be a part of his recreation however reducing down on it will be significant.
After the 2024 season ended, Onerous Knocks captured a second the place Porter appeared dedicated to coming into this season with a brand new mindset. It appeared like he was going to have a chip on his shoulder this 12 months. With the best way the Steelers’ protection collapsed to finish 2024, that isn’t stunning.
Porter remains to be a younger participant, going into his third NFL season, so he’s acquired a variety of room to develop. Veteran Darius Slay, who the Steelers signed this offseason to play reverse of Porter, sounds excited to mentor the younger nook. Maybe that steering will assist Porter clear up the little issues which are holding him again. He has the instruments to develop into a implausible nook on this league.
Some moments had been ugly for Porter final 12 months. Whereas he took strides in some aspects of the sport, like management, inconsistency won’t be his pal. The Steelers are scheduled to face some elite broad receivers this 12 months, like Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Tyreek Hill, in order that they’ll probably want Porter to take a step up. He sounds up for that problem, although.
