CincinnatiJoey Porter Jr., the Pittsburgh Steelers’ promising second-year cornerback, was flagged for six penalties on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Although only four of those were officially approved, both numbers represent the highest totals a player has achieved in a single game this season. After Detroit Lions rookie Terrion Arnold, Porter has risen to become the second-most-penalized cornerback in football.
Porter pointed at the refs after the game. He feels like he has a target on his back after authorities have emphasized his play for weeks.
When asked if he felt a circle on his back, Porter replied, “Definitely, I feel like that.” I don’t feel like I’m doing something that other database administrators aren’t doing on some of those calls. However, I have that target on my back, so I must obviously continue working.
Porter is correct when he says that officials most likely highlight him because of his growing notoriety. Porter’s grabby nature is not a novel concept; in fact, it was the main concern on his scouting report at Penn State. The Steelers are beginning to suffer greatly as a result of these penalties. They definitely did it here, just as they did in Washington.
Porter has both good and bad news. He doesn’t have to commit some of these fouls, to start. The ball was beyond from the area, yet his penalty against Andrei Iosivas was obvious. Instead, when it should have been third and long, he let away a massive play by tackling Iosivas. Second, Porter has demonstrated his ability to be a lockdown cornerback in games this season. It was dominant; just watch the footage against the Baltimore Ravens.
Getting Porter to trust his technique and stop making those grabs will be the Steelers’ biggest challenge. Porter will rank among the best cornerbacks in football if he does have faith in his technique. He already knows all the tricks; he just needs to break the negative habits that have made him target the referees.
Becoming even close to out on Porter is not the right time. Porter’s size and athletic prowess, together with his cerebral acumen, enable him to make some fantastic plays in zone coverage and be a great man coverage defender.
However, at the moment, he is the most erratic player at the position, and he nearly always needs to rely on his current technique. That is Porter’s issue, and during the coming weeks, secondary coach Grady Brown will need to meet with Porter to resolve it.
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