In Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice, Steelers go ‘big’ in latest attempt to draft starting CBs

Long their perceived draft blind spot, the Pittsburgh Steelers took another crack at drafting quality cornerbacks this spring.

After well-publicized failures in that area over the past two decades, this time their attempts went big.

Really big.

How big? Try 12 feet, 5 inches and 399 pounds big.

Joey Porter Jr. (6-2, 193) and Cory Trice (6-3, 206) were selected in the second and seventh rounds, respectively, in the first Steelers draft presided over by Omar Khan in the general manager’s chair and with assistant general manager Andy Weidl part of the organization.

No previous player the Steelers drafted over at least the past 30 years and played a down at cornerback for them can match the height/weight numbers of either of those two cornerbacks.

“They don’t look like rookies to me,” safety Damontae Kazee said after an organized team activities session last month. “Just 6-4, and big.”

Veteran Steelers newcomer Patrick Peterson — no small cornerback himself at 6-1, 203 pounds — said coach Mike Tomlin alludes to the twin-like rookie CBs as “Avatar,” a reference to the blockbuster sci-fi film series that features genetically engineered bodies that look like super-sized (and super-athletic) humans.

Indeed, being that each is new to the team and they are roughly the same size, wear similar numbers (Porter is No. 24, Trice No. 27) and have similar haircuts, they can look like some sort of cyborg duo set to protect the Steelers from AFC plus-sized star receivers such as Ja’Marr Chase, Amari Cooper, Davante Adams and Tee Higgins.

Related

• Former Clemson kicker B.T. Potter looks to prove he's NFL-worthy while at Steelers camp
• Tim Benz: Mike Tomlin's contract extension with Steelers is a lock, even if the playoffs are not
• Mark Madden' Hot Take: When will Mike Tomlin be judged by his results?

“I feel sometimes (veterans) do (confuse Porter and Trice),” Trice said with a smile. “With the helmets on, we’ve (both) got dreads, same position, tall.

“But we really just go out there and try to perform, so whether it’s him or it’s me, we are trying go out there and make plays and have fun.”

Porter and Trice were drafted, and future Hall of Famer Peterson signed, to upgrade a secondary that was OK last season but one the organization apparently felt could be better. The Steelers released Ahkello Witherspoon and without did not give Cameron Sutton a salary like the one he got via a free-agent contract ($21 million guaranteed) with the Detroit Lions.

The irony of the Steelers’ latest crack at drafting future starting cornerbacks is Sutton was the rare success story for the team in that area. Sutton, a third-round pick in 2017, played more than 96% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps in the 32 games he played the past two seasons.

Aside from Sutton, one has to go back to William Gay (2007) to find the last time the Steelers drafted a cornerback who was a primary starter for them for more than one season.

“I will say this,” secondary coach Grady Brown said, “the two guys we drafted were the two guys I hoped we drafted.”

That each stands well over 6 feet tall and weighs about 200 pounds is probably more owed to a leaguewide trend in response to the seemingly ever-bigger wide receivers across football than to any philosophy shift by the Steelers.

“Length is an asset if you’re clean, so they’ve got to be penalty-free,” Tomlin said. “You know, they’ve got to know which way they’re going. Sometimes, when you’re short, your (cognizance) is excellent, and when you’re out of place you make up things faster. And when you’re long, you don’t.

“And so, they’re very much writing their story about what they’re capable of being. I like their attentiveness. I like the attributes that they bring, but it’s premature to kind of paint a picture of where they are.”

That story will continue to be told over training camp at Saint Vincent College, beginning later this month. During OTAs and minicamp, Porter had worked his way into plenty of first-team reps, he confirmed. Trice was making plays and making people notice him, too, albeit mostly in a second-team role.

With free-agent Chandon Sullivan also on board as a slot specialist, Levi Wallace a returning starter on the outside and others in the mix, much needs to shake out before it’s known how big of a role Porter and/or Trice might have as rookies. And even if Porter is ahead of Trice — understandably so, as a much-higher pedigree draft pick — perhaps Trice can show enough to be an eventual successor to the soon-to-be 33-year-old Peterson.

Porter, the son of the former Steelers edge rusher of the same name, said summer workouts were an eye-opener.

“This is not the high school or college level where there’s one guy here and there,” the former Penn State and North Allegheny star said. “Everybody is well talented. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be in this building. You can’t take any reps off. Every rep is the last rep, and you have to take it seriously. That’s what I learned with this.”

What the Steelers learn about Porter and Trice over the next two months could determine if they finally hit it big in their attempts to draft cornerbacks.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.