This is the eighth in a series on the Steelers’ roster as the team prepares to report to training camp at Saint Vincent College July 23. Today: Cornerback
Cornerbacks: Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, Brandin Echols, Corey Trice Jr., Beanie Bishop, James Pierre, Kyler McMichael, Cameron McCutcheon, Donte Kent, D’Shawn Jamison
What a talented and diverse group this has become with the acquisition of cornerback Jalen Ramsey from the Dolphins last week.
In fact, the trio of Ramsey, Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay, while a little older, might be the best trio at the top of a depth chart in the NFL.
The additions of Ramsey, 30, and Slay, 34, this offseason makes the Steelers older at cornerback, but the two have combined two Super Bowl wins, four All-Pro nods, 13 Pro Bowl honors and 52 combined interceptions.
It also gives them the option of playing Ramsey and Porter when they have two corners on the field, with Ramsey sliding to the slot when Slay enters the game on passing downs. Ramsey has extensive experience playing in the slot and also has seen time during his career at free safety.
When the Steelers selected Porter with the 32nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they did so with the idea that he would turn into a true No. 1 cornerback.
And while Porter has had his ups and downs in his first two seasons, that goes hand-in-hand with playing perhaps the most difficult position in all of sports.
Playing cornerback in the NFL is a chore. The rules are set up against you having success. The quarterbacks and wide receivers are better trained now more than ever thanks to the explosion of 7-on-7 camps beginning at an early age. And while the offense knows exactly where each play is supposed to align, the corners are reading and reacting to that.
It leads to those up-and-down moments.
Enter Gerald Alexander, the Steelers’ new defensive backs coach. Alexander was assistant defensive backs coach for the Steelers in Porters’ rookie season before spending 2024 with the Raiders.
“I think he’s one of the elite guys at the line of scrimmage as far as disrupting releases and getting hands-on and stuff like that,” Alexander said. “And so it’s really post that. It’s not necessarily getting aggressive beyond that combative stage within that five yards, and now it’s just time for just to trust his transition, trust his process, trust his coverage ability, and then obviously when he’s in a position to be able to defend the ball down the field, it’s getting his eyes up and challenging that and going for the ball instead of trying to think about how do I keep the receiver from not receiving the ball.”