Tag: joey porter jr

12 best available players for Jaguars on Day 2

The Jaguars still have needs at cornerback, pass rusher, and tight end. Luckily for them, there are plenty of viable options in rounds two and three.

For weeks it seemed the Jacksonville Jaguars intended to focus their first-round efforts on upgrading their defense. Instead, the Jaguars traded down twice near the end of the round and opted to select offensive tackle Anton Harrison.

The move made plenty of sense for Jacksonville given the departure of Jawaan Taylor in free agency and the impending suspension of Cam Robinson. Still, it came with plenty of talent on the board.

With the Jaguars sitting at No. 56 and No. 88 overall in rounds two and three, respectively, there’s no shortage of exciting players still available Friday night. Here are 12 prospects who would make sense for Jacksonville to target:

Best available players after first round of NFL Draft

With six picks until Raiders select at 38, here are the top players still on the board.

The first round is over. There were plenty of surprise picks. And with every surprise pick, there’s a player who surprisingly was not picked.

The Raiders pick next at 38 in the second round, which means unless they trade up, they will watch six teams pick before they are on the clock again. They have plenty of needs to fill on the team, so they could go in a lot of different directions.

Most notably, the Raiders could look to draft a quarterback and Will Levis is still on the board.

Levis was the most mocked player to the Raiders at seven overall for the first two months of the offseason. They went with Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson while Levis sat in the green room all night going unpicked.

Other notable players on the board who may be of interest to the Raiders incluce CB Joey Porter Jr, Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer, Florida G O’cyrus Torrence, and Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker.

With the first round in the books, here are the best available players when combining the big board rankings of several NFL Draft professionals.

RANK AVERAGE POS. SCHOOL PROSPECT
10 11.5 QB KENTUCKY WILL LEVIS
17 20.2 CB PENN STATE JOEY PORTER JR.
18 20.5 TE NOTRE DAME MICHAEL MAYER
24 24 S ALABAMA BRIAN BRANCH
32 33 TE GEORGIA DARNELL WASHINGTON
34 36.5 IOL FLORIDA O’CYRUS TORRENCE
35 38.3 EDGE GEORGIA TECH KEION WHITE
37 39.7 TE OREGON STATE LUKE MUSGRAVE
39 41.7 IOL TCU STEVE AVILA
40 44.5 WR TENNESSEE JALIN HYATT
41 45.3 LB ARKANSAS DREW SANDERS
42 47.5 CB MICHIGAN DJ TURNER
43 47.8 TE IOWA SAM LAPORTA
44 48 IOL MINNESOTA JOHN MICHAEL SCHMITZ
45 48 EDGE LSU BJ OJULARI
46 49.3 QB TENNESSEE HENDON HOOKER
47 50 CB GEORGIA KELEE RINGO
48 50.3 LB CLEMSON TRENTON SIMPSON
49 50.5 DT NORTHWESTERN ADETOMIWA ADEBAWORE
50 51.2 WR NORTH CAROLINA JOSH DOWNS
51 52 DT WISCONSIN KEEANU BENTON
53 53.3 OT NORTH DAKOTA STATE CODY MAUCH
54 53.7 IOL WISCONSIN JOE TIPPMANN
55 56 CB MIAMI TYRIQUE STEVENSON
56 56 OT OHIO STATE DAWAND JONES
57 56.2 RB UCLA ZACH CHARBONNET
58 57.5 WR TENNESSEE CEDRIC TILLMAN
59 57.7 OT SYRACUSE MATTHEW BERGERON
60 62 CB SOUTH CAROLINA CAM SMITH
61 63.5 CB KANSAS STATE JULIUS BRENTS
62 64.5 EDGE AUBURN DEREK HALL
63 66.8 WR OLE MISS JONATHAN MINGO

 

Ravens HC John Harbaugh likes the idea of drafting Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr., mentions great reason

Ravens HC John Harbaugh told reporters that he wants to target Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr. in the draft for a great reason

The rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers is steeped in tradition. The teams have competed in the regular season and playoffs since the Ravens moved to Baltimore in the late 90s, and with Joey Porter Jr., son of a Steel City legend Joey Porter Sr. set to become available in the upcoming draft, John Harbaugh told reporters last week that he likes the idea of converting the Steelers great to a Ravens fan.

“No doubt,” Harbaugh explained when asked about the possibility of adding a rival’s son to the Ravens’ defense. “Seeing Joey Porter Sr. a Ravens fan? I think that would be great for all of us.”

“Would he be, though?” Director of player personnel Joe Hortiz interjected. 

“Of course, he would; family first, man. I’m going to give him a call and I’m going to find out,” Harbaugh quipped. “I know for me, it’s family first. Joey Porter Jr. is a heck of a player, and it’s not just him. There are a lot of good corners, like [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta] said, guys that we’d be excited about, but this dude knows how to play. I love the way he plays, his style. He’s the Joey Porter Sr. version in DB form. He has a great mentality, so we’ll see what happens.”

This back and fourth between Harbaugh and Hortiz may not prove to be consequential when Baltimore comes on the clock later in April, though the prospect of adding such an accomplished collegiate player is sure to be enticing.

If Porter Jr. is still around when the Ravens make their first pick, fans shouldn’t be surprised if they look to bolster their secondary, and convert his father from the dark side in the process.

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Star Penn State CB reportedly visits Ravens.

A star Penn State cornerback reportedly visited the Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have the 22nd pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.  They currently house five total picks, but could make some moves to increase that total during draft weekend.  The cornerback position is one where the Ravens will like to improve based on Marcus Peters possibly not coming back.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is visiting the Ravens. The son of former Pittsburgh Steeler Joey Porter Sr. has been a popular mock draft pick for Baltimore by multiple analysts and experts.

It would be interesting to see if the Baltimore Ravens do draft Joey Porter Jr.  The 6’2 corner is one of the best players in the draft.  Porter Jr only had one interception in his Penn State career, but that could mean that teams didn’t want to test him and targeted the other side.

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Saints schedule pre-draft visit with Penn State corner Joey Porter Jr.

The Saints scheduled a pre-draft visit with Penn State corner Joey Porter Jr., one of the top defensive prospects in the 2023 rookie class:

Do the New Orleans Saints know where they’re picking this year? KPRC 2 Houston’s NFL insider Aaron Wilson reports that the Saints have scheduled a pre-draft visit with Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whose busy itinerary includes stops with the Raiders, Commanders, Ravens, Panthers, and Eagles in the days ahead.

Porter is drawing a lot of attention for good reason. He’s a virtual lock to be picked in the first 10 or 12 picks of the 2023 NFL draft, having played at an incredibly high level last year with 11 pass breakups in 10 games — before he timed the 40-yard dash in just 4.46 seconds at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds, helping to generate an impressive Relative Athletic Score of 9.72. Don’t bet on him making it to the Saints’ pick at No. 29 overall.

So why are the Saints bringing him in? It could be as simple as wanting to put him through some agility drills and fill out his scouting report. Nearly every prospect the Saints have tabbed for these exclusive “top 30″ visits at their home facility in Metairie either didn’t finish athletic testing at the NFL scouting combine or missed the event entirely, due to injury or being snubbed by the selection process. The Saints’ scouting department puts an emphasis on agility and movement skills in a small space, so the three-cone drill and short shuttle are especially meaningful to them.

Even if they don’t have a prayer of landing Porter (or a real need, given their depth at cornerback), it might be worthwhile to fly him into town and run him through a few drills to get a better idea of what kind of athlete he is. With all of the NFC rivals picking high this year, odds are he’ll be playing somewhere nearby for the foreseeable future.

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5 takeaways from Penn State and Purdue’s barnburner of a season opener

Penn State and Purdue kicked off the Big Ten’s week one slate with an absolute classic primetime game. Here are the big takeaways.

Who said Big Ten Football was boring?! Thursday night, primetime week one with the entire college football world tuning in, or at least flipping the channels between this and the insane Backyard Brawl. Penn State and Purdue delivered a classic game. I feel bad for anyone who turned this off after halftime, because everything went off the rails after the 30-minute feeling out process.

This was a high-scoring 35-31 affair that had everything. With a few star-making performances, a back-and-forth fourth quarter, and a comeback moment from an unlikely candidate, this week one classic is a great way to kick off the week for the Big Ten. Here are the big takeaways.

Joey Porter Jr. headed to NFC East in latest Sports Illustrated mock draft

See where Joey Porter Jr. is heading in this Sports Illustrated mock draft

The 2022 college football season is just a few weeks away, and we have slowly started to see some mock drafts being released.

The most recent one was one made by The Draft Wire, which had Penn State cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] headed to the Detroit Lions with the 29th overall pick.

For this next one, NFL Draft Bible, a Sports Illustrated affiliate, released a 2023 NFL mock draft on Monday. In it, they also highlighted Porter, but to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 19th overall pick.

From the perspective of the Eagles’ secondary compared to the Lions, theirs isn’t as struggling as the Lions, but they could certainly use the depth.

You could also make the argument that the Eagles could go a different route with this pick. Perhaps an offensive lineman to protect Jalen Hurts and build more youth on that front five. Or, dare I say quarterback — Will Levis. If you’re talking about day two players, there are certainly options — NC State’s Devin Leary, West Virginia’s JT Daniels.

Let’s stay on track here though and go back to Porter being an Eagle. The last Penn State player selected this early was running back Miles Sanders.

In terms of long-term, this pick makes plenty of sense. James Bradbury is only one a one-year deal and Darius Slay is a free agent in 2024.

If there is any 2023 Penn State draft prospect that has the talent to be selected in the first round, it’s Porter.

Porter has developed into an extremely reliable corner for the Nittany Lions. His progression every year he’s been there has been nothing short of impressive. His biggest leap came in 2021, where he recorded 51 total tackles, a forced fumble and an interception.

If you differentiate Porter and Tariq Castro-Fields, what separates them apart is that Porter plays more physical and aggressive.

Another trait that stands out for Porter is his ability to adapt to various coverages. There have been times where he did line up in zone coverage and the way he adjusted to it was extremely impressive.

With the Eagles, Porter will have to line up against guys like potentially Terry McLaurin and even a little rivalry with his former teammate in Jahan Dotson. Other notable names in that division include Ceedee Lamb.

Porter certainly has the talent to cover those receivers. Sure, it might take some time for him to do so efficiently. However, Porter would get to practice with both AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, which will really help with his development.

Outside of Slay and Bradbury, the Eagles don’t really have guys in their cornerback room with a lot of starting experience. They did draft LSU corner Kary Vincent Jr. in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. They have a room full of potential.

If Porter were selected in the first round, there would be a few teams that he would fit with. The Eagles at 19 does make a lot of sense in terms of their future in their cornerback room, with both Slay and Bradbury being free agents in the next two years.

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