The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the middle of the closing stretch of the 2023 regular season, and after a truly dominating win against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals, they still have a realistic chance of making the playoffs if they manage to win out the rest of the way.
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Steelers WR George Pickens takes a short pass for a long touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16.
With all the ups and downs throughout the season, there have been a few consistent bright spots. They've mainly been the Steelers' rookies, as many of them already have carved out key roles and are performing rather well. However, none of them have played a more important role than Joey Porter Jr. has this season.
Realistically, is Porter getting the recognition he deserves? Probably not. As he has been the lone member of the Steelers secondary to play at a relatively high level throughout the season, especially when you consider that All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has missed multiple games this season due to injury.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers rookie Joey Porter Jr. has embraced his role and has benefitted significantly from learning under veteran defensive backs.
Porter has been playing so well that even former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has taken notice. In his most recent appearance on the Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger talked about how well Porter has played this season, as well as the potential upcoming matchup with D.K. Metcalf and the Seattle Seahawks.
"You love that he's a physical football player," Roethlisberger said discussing Porter's play this season. "You love how he gets his hands on people, and so I love that they just let him play. I love that, that he's playing as well as any rookie, not just corner, but rookie in the league."
Roethisberger is correct across the board here. Porter is a very physical player, and has taken it as a challenge to improve on his major weakness coming into the season which was his tackling. He has also played just as well as any rookie across the NFL, but unfortunately, he won't have the stats for many to consider him for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. has been asked to take on a lot of responsibility as he is frequently asked to shadow top wideouts.
Porter's physicality will be put to the test this upcoming Sunday when he is lined up across from Metcalf, as Metcalf is a freak of nature in terms of stature and build. It is unclear at this point if Porter will end up following Metcalf like he has other games, as Tyler Lockett is a very good wide receiver in his own right. But that is definitely the matchup Steeler Nation will be tuning in for, as well as Roethlisberger.
"D.K. is a just physical specimen, which is what I think Joey thrives at. He thrives at physicality. Those two are going to be, if he does follow him around, those two are going to be just tangling with each other."
Ideally Porter is able to match the physicality of Metcalf with little outside intervention, as letting these two battle will be must see TV. Unfortunately for the Steelers however, Porter has been heavily penalized across the second half of this season for getting a little too handsy at times.
Steelers Should Echo Ben Roethlisberger's Recommendation For Joey Porter Jr.
Coming into the NFL, one of the knocks on Porter was his tendency to be too physical down the field with opposing receivers, which could lead to an excessive amount of penalties once he is no longer in college. That is exactly what has happened to this point in the season, as Porter is the second most flagged defensive back on the season with 12 total flags thrown on him, although only 8 flags have been accepted.
Roethlisberger has offered Porter some advise to assist in this area.
"I feel like what he should do is he should put the same colored gloves on as the opposing jersey... He wore those bright yellow gloves and it just sticks out like a sore thumb."
It is unclear if Porter wearing gloves to match his opponent would violate any uniform policies in the NFL, but it definitely is a tactic that has been employed by NFL players in the past. Being on the road the next two matchups, it might be more difficult to pull this off with the seahawks wearing blue or green home jerseys, but I don't think anyone would blame Porter if he looked into matching his gloves to the opponent's jersey.
What do you think about Porter Jr.'s play this season? Are his penalties a problem, and should he consider matching gloves like Roethlisberger suggests? Let us know in the comments below!
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