Tag: Joey Porter Jr.

2024 NFL draft: Steelers hosting speedy CB for Top 30 visit

The Steelers traded for Donte Jackson but still need more help at cornerback.

According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers will host former Rutgers cornerback Max Melton for a Top 30 predraft visit.

The Steelers added cornerback Donte Jackson in the trade that sent top wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. He should be a solid outside starter to pair up with Joey Porter Jr. Nevertheless, another top cornerback is needed, whether in the slot or boundary.

Melton is a natural slot cornerback but isn’t limited to just that. He is a long strider with good length and lots of closing speed. Melton also has exceptional ball skills and does a great job tracking the football in the air. The only real downside of Melton’s game as far as the Steelers go is his struggles in defending the run.

Melton projects as a late second, early third-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft. His skills in many other draft classes would warrant him being selected higher but this class is very deep and talented.

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Penn State NFL draft prospect stock watch: Kalen King

Penn State cornerback Kalen King has been seeing his draft stock trend in the wrong direction.

The NFL draft is often a crapshoot, regardless of all the time and effort put into scouting the thousands of potential pro prospects every season. Teams, top draft analysts, media, and the average fan all have their opinions, but ultimately it’s a very inexact science. Players billed as first-rounders before the season fall into the late rounds, and unheralded guys blow up and end up in the first.

For Penn State, no player has seen their draft stock change as much as corner [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag]. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been for the better. King entered his junior season coming off a stellar 2022 campaign, one so good it made scouts wonder if he was a better pro prospect than former teammate and current Pittsburgh Steelers corner [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag]

His season did not go as planned, but he still was being mocked in the late first round as recently as two months ago. He was able to participate in the Senior Bowl thanks to a new rule allowing some underclassmen, but his performance was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

His attempt at improving his stock at the NFL combine also fell flat, with a very disappointing workout.

 

He improved his 40 time at Penn State’s pro day, but his speed on tape lines up with his combine time. He is much quicker than fast, which doesn’t play well at outside corner. He profiles more as a slot player with his size and speed limitations, but he has almost no experience there at the college level.

Some have even suggested he could be moved to safety, which he has even less experience playing. It’s no surprise with all the uncertainty surrounding his NFL role that his stock continues to plummet. According to NFL Mock Draft Database, King has fallen to a day-3 projected pick. That may end up being an overreaction but with the number of solid options at corner, it’s a real possibility.

I still believe King could become a good NFL player, but you can’t ignore his flaws. Hopefully whoever selects him has a solid plan in place to allow him to use his strengths.

Stock: Down

Senior Bowl gives Kalen King another chance to show that he’s a first-round talent

Kalen King enters Senior Bowl week in hopes of cementing himself as a first round pick

The Reese’s Senior Bowl week is almost upon us, with practices kicking off this week and the game scheduled for Saturday, February 3. Penn State will have three representatives, including [autotag]Adissa Isaac[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Dixon[/autotag], but the most high-profile Nittany Lion is junior cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag].

In the first year that the Senior Bowl has extended invites to underclassmen, King jumped at the opportunity to improve his draft stock. King is a borderline first-round draft pick, ranking between 26th and 47th overall on big boards. ESPN ranks him as the 33rd-best prospect, Pro Football Network has him as the 26th overall player, and Pro Football Focus ranks him as 47th.

King’s 2022 season when playing opposite [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] was sensational and well-received by Pro Football Focus, giving him an overall grade of 89 on a 1-100 scale. He was named second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and selected third-team All-America by Pro Football Focus. This year, he took a bit of a step back and only had one pass breakup with no interceptions. However, King’s run defense graded well this year and will be a big thing to watch as next week gets rolling.

At 5-foot-11, King is a tad undersized for an outside corner, and his lack of physical ability as a corner was exposed when he went against uber-physical receivers like Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. The Senior Bowl week will be paramount for King to show NFL teams that he can stack up against bigger receivers and that his performance against the Buckeyes was just a fluke.

His football IQ and play recognition should be on full display throughout the week of practices. King is a tremendous ball-hawk, but translating those pass deflections into turnovers is an area he needs to work on. As a more than capable coverage defender in zone and man, King showing scouts that he can match up in man coverage with larger receivers will be critical in eliminating doubts about his size.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, and broadcasted on the NFL Network.

Follow Charlie Strella on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram.

Former Penn State star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. named a finalist for the NFL’s DROY

Former Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. named finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

The postseason accolades keep coming in for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag]. After being named to the 2023 All-Rookie Team by the Pro Football Writers of America on Tuesday, Porter Jr. was recognized Thursday as a finalist for the AP’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Porter Jr. was the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and followed in his father’s footsteps to Pittsburgh. He quickly became a stalwart on the outside for the Steelers. In his first NFL season, Porter had 43 total tackles and 10 pass deflections to go along with one interception. Porter made the playoffs in his first year in the league, but the Steelers were eliminated by the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wildcard.

Below is the list of all five finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year:

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists:

Porter isn’t viewed as the favorite for the award, with Carter, Anderson, and Witherspoon seen as the defacto top three. Witherspoon, a former Illinois Fighting Illini, beat out Porter for the Big Ten’s Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year in 2022.

Whatever the outcome, Porter Jr. had a tremendous rookie season and looks to be a future building block for the Steelers. The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors on February 8th at 9 p.m. EST.

Follow Charlie Strella on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram.

Former Nittany Lions Joey Porter Jr. and Ji’Ayir Brown named to PFWA 2023 All-Rookie Team

Pro football writers honor former Penn State defensive back duo on 2023 All-Rookie team.

It did not take long for two key members from the 2022 Penn State defense to leave their respective marks on the NFL. [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag], former defensive backfield teammates for the Nittany Lions, each landed on the 2023 All-Rookie Team from the Pro Football Writers of America on Tuesday.

Although Porter Jr. was the no. 32 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, he was actually the first pick in the second round of the draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Porter Jr. and he quickly immersed himself in a key role in the defense/ The three-time All-Big Ten player played four seasons at Penn State and left a year early to follow in his father’s footsteps at the next level. In his first NFL season, Porter had 43 tackles with 10 pass deflections and 1 interception.

Brown was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2023 NFL draft. Brown was a JUCO transfer addition for Penn State in 2020 from Lackawanna College, and he wasted little time becoming one of the top playmaking safeties in the Big Ten. In his first year as a starter in 2021, playing alongside Jaquan Brisker, Brown had six interceptions and went on to be named the defensive MVP of the 2023 Rose Bowl in his final game in a Penn State uniform. Brown had 35 tackles with 4 pass deflections and 2 interceptions in his rookie season for the 49ers.

Brown has a chance to play in the Super Bowl a year after helping Penn State win the Rose Bowl. Brown and the 49ers host the Detroit Lions in this weekend’s NFC Championship Game.

Former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) was named the PFWA Rookie of the Year and the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Former Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (Houston Texans) was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Texans also drafted former Penn State offensive lineman [autotag]Juice Scruggs[/autotag], who has been a key part of the offensive line for the Texans this season as well.

You can see the full PFWA 2023 All-Rookie Team here.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Every Penn State player in the NFL playoffs in 2024

Here is every former Penn State football player on an NFL playoff team’s roster in 2024.

Another NFL postseason is set to get underway, and there is a good chance at least one team playing in the Super Bowl will have a Penn State player on the roster. All but two teams in this year’s NFL playoffs have at least one Penn State player on the roster this year. The top seeds in each conference have multiple Penn State players on the roster, seemingly making it more likely Penn State will see a former player earn a Super Bowl ring.

In all, a total of 64 Super Bowl rings have been won by a former Penn State player. Last year’s Super Bowl had just one former Penn State player on the field, but Miles Sanders and the Philadelphia Eagles came up short of winning the big game. There is an excellent chance there will be more than one former Nittany Lion competing in the Super Bowl this postseason.

The Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns are the only two teams in the NFL postseason without a Penn State player on the roster. Here is a look at every Penn State player on an NFL playoff team’s roster this postseason.

Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. had the coldest Game of Thrones-inspired intro on NBC against the Bengals

Porter is coming.

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. borrowed from one of the most popular television shows of all time for his Saturday home football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

While doing the NBC intros for the Steelers defense, Porter introduced himself as “the king of the North,” a fun nod to Game of Thrones.

You might also take this as a way for Porter to say that the Steelers run the AFC North, even if Pittsburgh was technically last in the division as of Saturday afternoon.

In any case, it was a very neat twist on the player introduction, and Porter certainly acclimated himself quite well for this chilly Steelers game.

Porter is one of the better young cornerbacks in the NFL, following in the footsteps of his dad, former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, in Pittsburgh.

Maybe one day he and the Steelers will retake the AFC North as its fiercest challengers, but the Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns all will have a say in that pursuit.

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Penn State in the NFL: Best photos from Week 11

These former Penn State stars had some big moments around the NFL in Week 11. Here are some of the best photos form the week.

Penn State fans who may have been watching some NFL football this past weekend likely had some reasons to smile. A handful of former Nittany Lions had some big moments around the league in Week 11 of the NFL’s regular season.

[autotag]Odafe Oweh[/autotag] got an early jump on the weekend by recording a sack of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the Thursday night win by the Baltimore Ravens. [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] had a big game for the New York Giants as they picked up a win against the Washington Commanders. Barkley rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries and picked up 57 yards on 4 receptions with two touchdown catches in the win.

And on the west coast, rookie safety [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] came up with a big interception to help the San Francisco 49ers pick up a win against Chris Godwin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here is a look at some of the best photos from around the NFL of your favorite former Penn State stars in Week 11.

Steelers rookies step up versus the Titans

The Steelers got huge performances out of Joey Porter and Broderick Jones on Thursday night.

On Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally got to see its top two picks from the 2023 NFL draft in the spotlight and both guys shined. Offensive tackle Broderick Jones got the start at right tackle and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. got not only the start but was paired up against Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for much of the game.

Jones was filling in for Chuks Okorafor who got himself benched for some comments made on the field in the previous week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jones got word on Tuesday he’d be starting and although his natural position is left tackle, looked great.

He’s not only a powerful run blocker and strong pass blocker, he has athleticism you don’t normally see in a Steelers offensive lineman. Pittsburgh had him pulling and working to the second level and his contributions helped the Steelers to their best rushing game of the season and the win.

Porter’s game got off to a rough start but he made a huge recovery. After a handful of slopping penalties in the first half, Porter put the clamps on Hopkins. Porter covered Hopkins on 26 of his 36 pass routes, playing press man on 20 of those. Hopkins finished the game with only one reception for 17 yards and only five total targets. This is after Hopkins caught three touchdowns the week before.

Pittsburgh is sitting at 5-3 right now and the play of these two talented rookies helped make that happen. We can’t wait to see more of these guys in the second half of the season.

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Best photos of former Penn State players in the NFL’s Week 8

Check out the best photos of Saquon Barkley, Micah Parsons and other former Penn State players in the NFL’s Week 8.

The results for a handful of former Penn State players may not have gone their way in Week 8 of the NFL’s regular season, but it was a busy weekend for a number of former Nittany Lions. Former linebacker [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] continued to be a wrecking ball for the Dallas Cowboys as the defense was once again its dominant self in a blowout win against the Los Angeles Rams. Next up for Parsons and the Cowboys is a big road game against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.

Things did not go quite as well for former Penn State running back [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], who did just about everything he could to lead the New York Giants to a win over the crosstown New York Jets, but Barkley and the Giants came up short in a bitter loss.

And former wide receiver [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] had some good moments in a losing effort for the Washignton Commanders, who could not topple the Eagles at home,

Here are some of the best photos of these players and more from around the NFL in Week 8.