Joey Porter Jr. Island welcomes WRs in 2025

As the months draw closer to Week 1, NFL fans love to highlight their team’s breakout candidates for the upcoming season.

Looking at the Steelers, a few names come to mind, but I want to shift my focus to third-year cornerback Joey Porter Jr.

Coming off an underwhelming 2024 season, the 2023 second-round pick is aiming for a bounce-back year after dedicating a lot of the offseason to polishing his technique particularly after struggling with pass interference penalties last year.

“It’s just the little things that I need to clean up in my technique, and I feel like I’ve been working on that this whole offseason, so I’m really excited to put that on tape.”

It’s also worth noting that Steelers defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander is back in Pittsburgh after spending a year with Las Vegas as a safeties coach. Alexander was one of Porter’s DB coaches during his rookie season. In an interview, Porter expressed excitement about Alexander’s return, emphasizing their existing relationship and the mentorship, physicality, and energy Alexander brings as a coach.

Joey Porter Jr. is also entering his third season with a new veteran cornerback lining up opposite of him—for the third straight year. In my opinion, this year will be his best pairing yet. Patrick Peterson was very visibly past his prime, and Donte Jackson was too inconsistent. But now, he’ll be alongside Darius Slay, who’s coming off a season where he showed little sign of decline and led the NFL in forced incompletions—a career high. Since signing, Slay has made it clear that he’s fully committed to helping Porter improve and become the best version of himself.

When you look at Joey Porter Jr., you see all the traits of a potential lockdown corner. I strongly believe that in his pivotal 2025 season, he’ll break out and begin to show the elite player he’s capable of becoming.