While waiting for the post-season draft sheets, the editorial staff of DNA of Sports offers you every Tuesday, a spotlight on the future nuggets who will join the NFL in 2023.
Joey Porter Jr.
1m88 for 90 kilos
Cornerback, Penn State, junior redshirt
Son of Joey Porter senior and his 104 sacks in the NFL (6 in the playoffs), 4 times in the Pro Bowl and 2 times All Pro. Ah and also winner of a Super Bowl (Steelers)!
Since his freshman year of high school, Joey Porter Jr. has been “the son of” and all the skepticism and need to prove on the court that. That no, he is not favored because of his name. And of course, he also had to fight so that people could not say: “he is less good than his father”!
If I were a quality: perfect physique
Tall, Joey Porter looks like the type of cornerback the boy scouts love so much! In the past two years: Derek Stingley (Texans), Sauce Gardner (Jets), Kaiir Elam (Bills), Patrick Surtain (Broncos), Caleb Farley (Titans) or Jaycee Horn (Panthers) have all been drafted in the 1st round. All exceed 6 feet from above.
For aerial duels, Joey Porter also has another attribute: his arms are longer than those of all cornerbacks in the NFL Combine 2022! To counter any Mike Williams (Chargers), Mike Evans (Bucs), Tee Higgins (Bengals) or Courtland Sutton (Broncos) in the NFL.
If smaller cornerbacks are also successful in the pros, this type of physical specimen will always have an advantage when drafting. Justified or not, it’s a fact!
If I was a fault: grabby
A cornerback can disturb a receiver’s run for the first 5 yards, but if his hands are still lying on him afterwards, it can lead to a penalty. In 2021, he has too often been punished by the referees: ten times! If it was better in 2022 (3 times), it’s probably also because he had fewer opportunities: opposing quarterbacks avoiding him as much as possible.
If he was respected in the Big Ten conference, in the NFL he will only be a rookie and the quarterbacks will not hesitate to target him. Often ! Joey Porter will therefore have to discipline himself not to penalize his team by dragging his hands (grab): the interference pass extends the opposing offensive series.
If I was an NFL player: Jaycee Horn (Panthers)
Like the Carolina player, Joey Porter offers a tall and physical cornerback profile. As Jaycee Horn showed in 2021 during his Pro Day, Joey Porter is also a top athlete. An event will therefore be essential as to its position in the draft: the NFL Combine 2023.
If I Were a Date: The NFL Combine
Every year in Indianapolis, players are measured and participate in workshops. Football requires athletic qualities: sprinting, turning around suddenly, jumping in the air or engaging your body in a tackle. Apart from Tom Brady and very few others, no player makes a career in the NFL without these qualities. This is why some players, extraordinary in the NCAA, have never been able to break into the pros.
It’s the same sport but not quite the same prerequisites: take a linebacker who in the NCAA has consecutive seasons with 101, 137, 117 and 138 tackles. wow! A real machine to tackle everything that moves.
But facing opponents from Temple University and in the NFL, there is a world: this player, Tyler Matakevich, is currently playing his 7th NFL season. This is already a performance in itself. But who knows in which team he plays?
He is a rotation player who has never exceeded 23 tackles in an NFL season because he is not explosive enough in his movements: an intelligent player can recognize the game but still need to be able to intervene in the face of the physical anomalies that populate the NFL. In fact, if he played the 15 games of the Bills in 2022, he participated in less than 1% of the defensive snaps: he is a special team player (present on 78% of the Bills’ ST snaps) and no longer the intimidating linebacker he was in college.
Reverse example: Isiah Pacheco. The Chiefs runner was a good runner with Rutgers University. No more. Barely a top 15 in his position for the 2022 draft. But excellent during the NFL Combine workshops, he showed that he had the athletic qualities to succeed in the pros. The Chiefs have bet on this athletic potential and the young RB’s rookie season proves them right.
Physical dimensions and athletic qualities are therefore important for the scouting report final. Whether you like it or not. Joey Porter will play big on March 6, 2023 in Indianapolis. Him, and the other cornerbacks of the 2023 vintage.
If I was a draft pick: 5-25
The 2023 vintage at the cornerback position will be rich: Kelee Ringo, Clark Phillips, Emmanuel Forbes, Cam Smith or Christian Gonzalez as so many competitors to Joey Porter. And still others who, like every year, will see their ratings climb from February to April.
Players of the genre already known but planned a little later for the moment: like Garrett Williams (Syracuse), Devon Witherspoon (Illinois), DJ Turner (Michigan) or the Freak Jaylon Jones (Texas A&M).
Joey Porter jr could therefore be the 1st cornerback chosen or a choice at the end of the 1st round: impossible to predict for the moment.
If I were an NFL team: Las Vegas Raiders
Football is a collective sport so all the players interact and influence their respective performances. In front, Maxx Crosby puts tons of pressure on the quarterbacks but the fruit of his labor is not harvested by the back line: only 5 interceptions in 15 games (30th NFL total)!
It would have a direct effect in a very aerial division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. A certain Russell too, if he recovers from a mysterious disease. And it would also allow Maxx Crosby to be even more threatening: the better the coverage, the more time the pass rushers have to reach their targets.
Arizona and Detroit think the same thing: two franchises who drafted pass rushers in 2022 and who are still in the worst performing category to defend the pass (26th and 30th). Adding a talent CB is therefore a solid option for them too.
Below are all of Joey Porter jr’s games against Purdue, enough to form your own opinion. That’s not a highlights with only positive actions! But still his most productive game of the season. See…
