2023 NFL Draft: Joey Porter Jr. - Penn State Cornerback

 

Joey Porter Jr. - Penn State

Strengths:

1. Arm Length - His arms are ridiculously long, and he uses them well to initiate contact at the line of scrimmage.

2. Technical Gameplay - Porter is very sound technically at the position. In zone coverage, he reads the quarterback and spaces well within his zone. He knows when to pick up his assignment, and when to get off of guys exiting his area. In press man, most of his reps look similar aside from some footwork discrepancies. He is reliable and knows how to consistently shut down inferior competition.

3. Simple Routes - He is absolutely lockdown on linear and short area routes where he can maintain contact and does not need to alter his speed or direction too drastically. His line contact is phenomenal, which helps him get the receiver where he desires when staying close to the line. He is also excellent at covering hitches and comebacks, where he does not have to burst laterally or flip his hips multiple times throughout the duration of a route.

Weaknesses:

1. Athleticism - For all his length, he appears to lack twitch. He plays the position technically, but is not the type of athlete that can shut down the elite-tiered receivers in the NFL. He also gets beat over the top more than he should, which results in him grabbing at the receiver to keep up. Another area this affects is his single-step burst. Porter does not close in on receivers from off coverage after they break with the same quickness as the high-end corner prospects in this class. His play speed is average for the position, and he does not follow receivers through acute breaks without getting physical. Additionally, his competitiveness does not overcome this deficit, often shying away from contact as an already poor tackler.

2. Playmaking - He does not jump routes or anticipate hardly at all. With one interception over the last three seasons, he does not look to create turnover opportunities for himself.

3. Hip Flip Footwork - When initially turning his hips one direction, he struggles to flip them back. He often does a bit of a hop on his outside foot, slowing down the rotation and allowing separation inside. He has enough impressive reps throughout his tape to indicate that this could improve, but his hips are not typically as fluid as most of the smaller, less lanky corners in this class.

Grade: Early Second

Pro Comparison: Jaycee Horn

Porter is slower with significantly less burst, but their playstyles, strengths, weaknesses, and length aligns.

Film Notes:

Ohio State (10/29/2022)

First step out of plant looks slow. Porter had to grab the receiver's jersey not five yards off the line. Good line contact. Slowed route to boundary. Likes to step forward before pivoting in press to match receiver. Eyes on QB. Long arms. Good timing on corner blitz, but clearly lacks linear speed compared to the other top prospects. Playing back a considerable amount. Length is ridiculous. Technical corner. Good line contact, but got beat down the sideline. Grabbed as to not allow a big play. Split step a little choppy. Does not close distance from zone or off as quickly, but plays the role well. Consistently good line contact. Gets beat by twitch. Hip on hip down sideline. Inefficient hip turn against line move by Marvin Harrison Jr., followed by some quick separation inside. Poor hip turn inside again. Better hip flip that time, but not a very controlled rotation. Immediate reaction to make play on screen. Keeps eyes on quarterback in zone. Very poor open field tackle attempt. Too static in open field when setting for tackle attempt. Stays physical throughout route. Good reaction from zone, but missed another tackle. Good coverage down sideline.

Minnesota (10/22/2022)

Great physicality at the line. Good hip turn down sideline. Seems better turning over right shoulder than left. Not as aggressive in the run. Good spacing. Plays his role in zone well. Needs to recover when whiffing jam on line. Less efficient on second hip flip, needing contact to help him stay with the route. A bit late to get head around, but great find on the ball when he does. Does not appear to want to make tackles. Good agility to get by running back on blitz. Left game in the third.

Auburn (09/17/2022)

Solid line contact. Arms are incredibly long. Awful tackler. Keeps eyes on QB in zone. Stumbled on hip turn, reverted to grabbing. Bumped route at the line. Odd stance in squat coverage. Seems to actively avoid tackling. Good hip flip to run hip to hip down sideline. Another missed tackle. Locked up by wide receiver block. Poor lateral burst, taking too long on his pivot step when matching his receiver from in tight. Initiates contact even from soft press. Sticky through linear routes. Excellent hip flip on that rep. Lock down on shorter routes where he can maintain contact.

Attributes (Grade/10):

Coverage	Tight Press	9
	Soft Press	8.5
	Off / Squat	7
	Zone	6.5

Tight Press: Porter is great in press man due to his length and physicality at the line. He can stay hip to hip with guys on most simple routes, but does occasionally get beat by false moves, quick twitch, and sideline speedsters. He will never leave his man wide open, but does get a bit too grabby if his man begins to pull away. When up against larger competition, he is completely lockdown. With his length and technique, Porter should have more success against the prototypical NFL outside wide receivers than he does against the smaller more sudden receivers who may move around an offense.

Soft Press: With his incredible length, Porter somehow manages to initiate contact when in soft press. He squats a couple of yards back from the line, and mirrors his opponent very well. The reason this is not a 9+/10 is because he has issues flipping his hips twice in a short span, which he may need to do when mimicking false moves from quicker receivers.

Off/Squat: Porter understands how to play off coverage, but this grade is capped from being slower to accelerate after planting his foot in the ground.

Zone: He plays zone coverage well from a technical standpoint, but his lack of closing burst will never allow him to excel in a zone-heavy scheme.

Man	Stickiness	8.5
	Hips	7.5
	Line Contact	10
	Size / Strength	9.5
	Accel / Decel	8

Stickiness: 10/10 when the receiver is inferior to Porter. He was not targeted much throughout the season because of how lockdown he is. This grade is only lower because he will allow some separation on quick digs and slants if the receiver sells the outside hard enough. Porter has a few reps with a rounded recovery as well without a tremendous amount of sudden burst. This will be a greater issue in the NFL with quick timing offenses. Fliers also may pull away downfield in the NFL more than they did in college. While he appears incredibly lockdown on most reps, these few areas leave concern when translating to the NFL.

Hips: Good backpedal off the line with a smooth initial hip flip for having such long legs, but staying low and rotating back the opposite direction needs some work.

Line Contact: He cannot get much more physical on the line without being penalized.

Size/Strength: Great pass break up skills with some of the longest arms in the business. Standing at 6'2, the only reason this grade is not a 10/10 is because he weighs under 200lbs. There are no strength concerns heading into the NFL.

Accel/Decel: Change of direction is relatively average, and he never uses burst to jump routes. That said, he can stay with any receiver through varying speeds along the route stem.

Instincts	Anticipation	4
	Playmaking	3
	Football Intelligence	9.5

Anticipation: He is a smart zone player, but he is more reactionary than anticipatory.

Playmaking: Excellent when it comes to pass break ups, but he does not put himself in the position to cause turnovers too frequently.

Football Intelligence: He understands how to play any role as a boundary corner in a technically sound manner. He usually will get his head around when needed, and has great spacing in zone.

Ball Skills	Hands	NA
	Contested Catch	9.5

Hands: No interceptions on the season with only one in his entire collegiate career.

Contested Catch: While he was not tested often in pure jump ball situations, he is excellent at the point of attack. He should be excellent at defending larger receivers down the sideline in the NFL.

Zone	Route Awareness	6.5
	Discipline	9.5
	Jumping Routes	2

Route Awareness: He does not anticipate, but he spaces well enough to where he does not need to. He just never jumps the route of a receiver from reading the quarterback or predicting the route.

Discipline: He has incredible discipline in his zone and plays the role properly.

Jumping Routes: Porter lacks ball skills and anticipation. He is a good reactive player who will likely never have too many interceptions due to his play style.

Open Field	Tackling	2
	Pursuit	3
	Speed	7

Tackling: To say his tackling is bad is being generous. Not only does he shy away from contact, but he misses open field tackles regularly.

Pursuit: He has decent open field speed with a 4.47 40, but does not typically show a lot of effort to track down a ball carrier outside of his immediate vicinity.

Speed: Solid speed at the position, but will certainly need to use technique to keep up with 4.3 wide receivers. His lack of speed is often exaggerated as a weakness, but it is still around average for the position (61%).

Blitz	Timing	9
	Effectiveness	6.5

Timing: Great timing on release, but first step could have more power.

Effectiveness: Lacks raw speed and tackling, but has good agility when blitzing.

Full Report:

Joey Porter Jr. has some of the longest arms of any cornerback in any league. He is built for the position, and has a very technical playstyle that should translate well to the NFL. His press man skills are what make him an early round prospect, but he is a technically sound zone player with great positioning as well. His physicality at the line in press is unmatched in this draft class, and he is entirely lockdown on inferior competition. With some impressive pass break ups and only 30 total targets on the season, there is a lot to like about Porter's outlook. The main concern is that he just is not the same caliber of athlete that is seen among the elite cornerbacks in the NFL. Porter's last recorded vertical was only 31 inches, which is apparent on the field with his lack of burst and overall average play speed. He is also not an anticipatory player, and will not jump routes to make big time plays. There is also some concern that he gets too grabby when getting beat down the sideline, and he occasionally allows some separation on more sudden routes after falling for the false move. His tendency of mirroring his opponents leaves him susceptible to rotating his hips into the false moves, and he is not always fluid in flipping them back. He can improve in this area by keeping his hips lower, but he is not as natural with his fluidity as many superior athletes at the position. This was not exploited as much in college, but could be an issue against quick timing NFL offenses. Ultimately, Porter is a very solid player who has a high floor entering the NFL with his length and technical playstyle. He is limited by his athleticism in ways not often seen in first round corner prospects, but should still be a very solid CB2 in the NFL. Without much big play potential, his grade is currently sitting in the early second round. Some teams will likely value having a solid boundary corner who handles his job well and can lock down most bigger second options on opposing teams enough to take him in the early-mid first. Porter simply is not the caliber of athlete who can move around the field and lock down the Tyreek Hills and Justin Jeffersons of the world, which is why he does not have a first round grade. While he will likely end up as a top 3-5 cornerback in this class when all is said and done, he is not the big swing many teams will be looking to take in the first round of the NFL Draft.

NFL Projection:

Porter Jr. will likely go in the first round. He will become a solid CB2 who has a decent rookie season and solid overall career. He will have the most success in a press-heavy scheme playing as boundary corner, often matching up against the opponent's largest receiver. If he can gain more play speed to match receivers downfield, then he has the tools to be one of the better NFL press corners.