Rookie Watch: Steelers DB Joey Porter Jr. "Carrying that chip on my shoulder" after day two selection

Porter Jr. is the highest defensive back selected by Pittsburgh since Artie Burns was taken 25th overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Pittsburgh – Nestled a few locker spots away from the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year in linebacker T.J. Watt, rookie Joey Porter Jr. is seated at his own locker on his cell phone. A subliminal reminder every day he walks into the Steelers facility, he resides next to greatness.

Porter Jr. is accustomed to greatness.

It’s no secret his father, Joey Porter Sr., spent the first eight seasons of his 13-year NFL career wearing the Black and Gold and ranks seventh all-time on the team with 60 quarterback sacks. A Super Bowl winner with the Steelers and was voted by the fans to the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team as part of the franchise’s 75th season celebration in 2007.

“It was destiny,” Porter Jr. said of his father’s words after he was selected with the first pick of the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft. “He was like, you've been coming here since you were a little kid. Now you’re going to do what I used to do.”

Porter Jr. is the highest defensive back selected by Pittsburgh since Artie Burns was taken 25th overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Taken 32nd overall, Porter Jr. found himself waiting until the second night of the draft due to the Miami Dolphins being stripped of the pick due to league tampering violations. Under normal draft conditions, he would have been the final selection of the first round. 

A competitor and prideful of his own capabilities, Porter Jr. took notice of the four other defensive backs hearing their names called during the first round. Porter Jr. had to return on day two to the stage in Kansas City to embrace his opportunity to walk across the stage in front of a packed crowd after the Steelers selected the former Nittany Lion out of Penn State.

“Definitely worth it,” Porter Jr. said about going to Pittsburgh in round two despite not being a day-one pick. “Still was pissed off and angry about the whole situation, but it was worth it to come here. So, I can’t be too mad about it."

“I look at it as if I'm a day two guy. Even though there are 32 picks in the first round, I don’t look at it like that. They picked me in the second round with the 32nd pick. So, that’s how I’m going to look at it, and it’s going to keep carrying that chip on my shoulder.”

The 6-foot-2 and 193-pound defensive back has flashed his physical style during minicamp, possessing the ability to redirect receivers off their route and display his 4.46 forty-time speed when playing in different coverages on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

We’ve yet to witness him in pads, but rest assured his father’s NFL pedigree and style of play is alive and kicking in Porter Jr. without a doubt. Pittsburgh needs him. They haven’t had a real shutdown and imposing player in his position in a long-time. Their most recent Pro Bowl defensive back was 30-year-old Joe Haden, who retired two years later.

The gap from elite corners drafted out of Pittsburgh to the present day leaves even the most well-known Steelers trivia buffs a little perplexed. It’s a close call between 2005 second-round pick Bryant McFadden or William Gay, the Steelers fifth-round pick two years later in 2007.

A whole lot of swings and misses surround the position that includes other Steelers' second-round selections like Senquez Golson (2015) and Ricardo Colclough (2004). McFadden and Porter Jr. are the only other defensive backs selected in round two since the 2000s by Pittsburgh.

It’s vital that Porter Jr. develops into a top-caliber corner because, without that type of player, the Steelers' secondary lacks the depth and quality to match the front seven. Porter’s value fits the mindset of Mike Tomlin and how he wants his defensive backs to play, especially in the case of Porter, with his size and physicality.

Those characteristics are evident throughout OTAs and minicamp. The flickering spark of something special resonates while watching Porter Jr. roam the field. He is an imposing figure at the line of scrimmage, and watching his reps against the Steelers' stout receiving core provides him with an unforgiving environment to learn the nuances of the game at the highest level.

Porter Jr. is a rookie, but his father’s time in Pittsburgh should give him a sense of comfort. The familiarity with the staff and how the organization goes about its business have been a process he has been able to get acquainted with since he was young. It’s going all the way back to when he was much younger and one of his first memories of Steelers owner Art Rooney II.

“Me and Damon Haggans, who is Clark Haggans' little son,” Porter Jr. said. “He and I used to come in here (locker room) with our little go-karts and run around in the locker room. I remember him (Mr. Rooney) saying what’s up to us. So, it’s been a long time with me and the Rooney family.”

The connection extends to Tomlin as well.

If things go according to plan, Porter Jr. and the Rooney family will be tied at the hip for years to come.