Former Steelers Running Back Merril Hoge Believes Joey Porter Jr.'s "Willingness" To Grow Will Lead Him To A Great Career

During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers made "spectacular" picks defensively, Including Keeanu Benton, Nick Herbig, and Steelers' fan favorite, Joey Porter Jr. With The 32nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected former Steelers great Joey Porter Sr.'s son, Porter Jr. Porter Jr. played his college career at the Pennsylvania State University. Now after following in his dad's footsteps, Porter Jr. looks to impress Steelers fans with his great lock-down man coverage. 

Recently, former Steelers running back Merril Hoge made an appearance on The Zach Gelb Show. During his appearance, Hoge was asked how he viewed the young talent on the defense for the Steelers. Hoge immediately went into praising the Steelers' front office for selecting Porter Jr. at pick 32. 

"You love to script something like that, they'll do that in movies, they usually don't happen."

So far, Hoge is correct, the Porter Jr. selection by the Steelers' front office seemed "movie scripted." Almost perfect, and so far it has been exactly that. Hoge would go on to praise Porter Jr.'s "willingness" to be uncomfortable. 

"His growth and willingness to grow is the important part." 

Hoge would continue on with his thoughts on Porter Jr. by explaining how the more exposure Porter Jr. gets now early on in his career, the better cornerback he'll become. 

"You're going to get exposed sometimes because you're learning, you're working on things that you need to work on and he's done that."

We've seen just this. During training camp, Porter Jr. was assigned to go man-on-man with second-year wide receiver, George Pickens. During their time facing off, we saw Pickens beat the rookie Porter Jr. quite a bit. Something that was interesting during training camp, was that no matter how many times Porter Jr. got beat, he would once again line up against Pickens.

Why? Well, once again it's because "Iron Sharpens Iron." This has been true, and it is starting to pay off for Porter Jr. During the Steelers Week 2 preseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills, the rookie cornerback Porter Jr. shined. He would reel in his first career NFL interception. With a near perfect rep, Matt Barkley's pass fell right into the hands of Porter Jr. 

Following his interception, the rookie would run the ball straight to his dad.

Can Steelers Rookie Joey Porter Jr. Make An Instant Impact On The Field?

As the 2023 NFL regular season draws near, we can expect to see Porter Jr. making an instant impact on the field for the Steelers defense. With Porter Jr. finally making his NFL debut against the Bills, fans were not disappointed. With the rookie snagging an interception in his first ever game, fans are excited to see what he can do come the regular season. The one question that needs to be answered regarding Porter Jr. is how good he can tackle. 

With training camp now over, the biggest doubt that came from Porter Jr. was his ability to tackle. With multiple clips coming out from the media showing reps of Porter Jr. missing open field tackles, it makes you question how rough he will be when it comes to tackling in the NFL. Luckily for the Steelers, Porter Jr. still has time to grow. Referring back to earlier, Porter Jr. is in fact still growing by the day. Therefore, the Steelers front office and fans should not be too concerned. 

The future is bright for Porter Jr. with mentors in front of him like Patrick Peterson, Porter Jr. will be in good hands to be able to develop into a good NFL cornerback. For now, Steelers fans should be patient with the rookie cornerback and understand that Porter Jr. himself is still very raw in talent and learning. 

What does Steeler Nation believe? Will Porter Jr. make an instant impact on the field for the Steelers defense in 2023? Or will it take some time until we see Porter Jr. be able to finally be given the opportunity to start against other NFL teams? Leave your comments down below!

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