Steelers rookie Joey Porter Jr. opens up about his adjustment to the NFL

Steelers rookie Joey Porter Jr. has been a sponge since arriving in Pittsburgh after the 2023 NFL Draft.

He’s doing all he can to soak up the knowledge from the veterans in the Steelers’ secondary, but isn’t getting ahead of himself when it comes to learning the discrepancies between the style of play between the college and pro games.

“They’re all trying to give me a good message, give me good insight on the game,” Porter Jr. said about studying the pro game from his peers. “I’m here to learn, so whenever somebody tries to talk [trash] to me, I always take it with a grain of salt and move forward.”

Patrick Peterson is one of the veteran defensive backs in particular that have taken Porter Jr. under his wing. The Steelers rookie believes he can benefit greatly from having Peterson on his team — expect Porter Jr. to spend his entire rookie season soaking up all of the knowledge from the eight-time Pro Bowler.

Even though Porter Jr. still has a lot to learn transitioning from the college game to the pros, the former Penn State star doesn’t expect there to be much of a learning curve heading into his rookie season.

“There are some little things that I can’t do — after five yards you can’t touch a [receiver] compared to college,” Porter Jr. said. “So, me and coach Grady [Brown], we’ve really been going over that and going through some of my old tapes and some of the ones from now in practice, seeing the difference in how I play the game — I feel like I’m learning very quickly.”

Before being drafted with the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft’s second round, Porter Jr. spent four years with the Nittany Lions, earning All-Big Ten honors his final three seasons in Blue and White. He was a third team selection in 2020 and 2021 before earning first team honors in 2022. Over his four seasons, Porter Jr. compiled 94 tackles, 19 passes defended and one interception, and many expect Porter Jr. to mirror that body of work in the NFL.

Luckily for Porter Jr., he’s a legacy football star as the son of former All-Pro linebacker Joey Porter. Porter played in the NFL for 13 seasons — mostly with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He helped the team to Super Bowl XL while making two All-Pro first teams and three All-Pro second teams.

So, who’s to say his son won’t enjoy the same type of success in the league?