Joey Porter Jr. admits his kryptonite is staring him in the face

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have a budding star at cornerback... but that's if he can stay out of his own way. Joey Porter Jr. is 24 years old with exceptional length and physicality to pair with sticky man coverage ability. But his biggest issue continues to be the primary talking point overshadowing his abilities: the penalties.

Following the second day of Steelers OTAs, the media caught up with Porter, who acknowledged there were issues during the 2024 season.

“It’s really about cleaning up the little stuff I watched on tape,” Porter said, per Nick Farabaugh of PennLive. “When I go back on tape, there’s nothing really drastic that sticks out. There’s nobody out there beating me by yards. There’s little things to clean up in my technique. I feel like I’ve been working on that during this offseason, so I’m really excited to put that on tape.”

Porter didn't ignore the elephant in the room as he explained the need to clean up his penalties.

“There was a little thing, like just clean up the penalties," Porter continued. "I feel like that’s the main thing for me, just clean up the little penalties. I looked at the tape, it’s not as bad as I think it was. They’re just like little things I need to work on and I’ve been in the lab working on that. So, I’m just really ready to put that out there."

The Pittsburgh Steelers must teach Joey Porter Jr. to clean up his technique

When we talk about Joey Porter Jr.'s penalties, we aren't talking about a handful of incidents. There were a ton of them. During his second season in 2024, the lengthy cornerback was flagged 15 times, per NFL Penalties—12 of which came in just four games that were highlighted by cringeworthy sloppiness at the cornerback position.

This came after getting called for a dozen penalties as a rookie, bringing his two-year total up to 27 penalties in his first two seasons—an irrationally high number and the most among all NFL defensive backs since 2023.

So what's the solution? It's simple, and yet, complicated at the same time: Porter must clean up his technique.

If you throw on the all-22 tape from last season, you'll notice countless examples of Porter being in the right place, but instead of trusting his length and positioning to disrupt the passing lane, he needlessly grabs the receiver at the top of his route. The coaching staff needs to put an end to this.

This is easier said than done, however. Old habits die hard, and Porter has been the same grabby player all through college until now. However, if he can clean up his technique and cut the penalties in half, only then will the talented Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback reach his full potential. Let's hope he's serious about making these changes.