Joey Porter Sr. explains why son returned to Penn State for senior year, entered 2023 NFL Draft

NickSchultz_7

Joey Porter Jr. and his family at Penn State — Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Last offseason, Joey Porter Jr. had a big decision to make. He could’ve tested the NFL Draft waters, or he could’ve returned for one more season at Penn State.

He, of course, chose the latter — with the help of his dad, who saw some things in his game.

Joey Porter Sr., who starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers during his NFL career, told NFL Network’s Stacey Dales why he thought another year in Happy Valley would’ve helped his son in the long run.

“He hadn’t graduated at that point in time and he only really played two good years of football from his redshirt year, then from his sophomore year and his junior year,” Porter Sr. said. “I just thought it would happen now if he played another year. Three years of football wasn’t really going to be that much on your body. I thought he needed it, I thought it put him in a better situation. So far, it’s coming true.”

Porter Jr. had 27 total tackles in 2022, down from 50 in 2021. But he set a career high with 11 passes defended, which was more than his previous three seasons combined. Even after such an impressive 2021 season, Porter Sr. thought there was still room to grow, which is why he pushed Porter Jr. to run it back with Penn State.

Now, he’s in conversation to be a first-round pick, coming in as the No. 17 overall pick in ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s mock draft 2.0 earlier this week. Porter Sr. shared where his son improved to get to that point.

“He felt like he was a little handsy the year before, so he definitely wanted to clean that up,” Porter Sr. said. “He just wanted to try to sharpen up his overall game and anything that he felt like he wasn’t doing at the time, he just wanted to try to make it better. I just thought it would put him in a better situation if he stayed another year. So, he did.”

After the conversation, Porter Jr. ran an unofficial 4.47 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. He’ll continue to try and improve his stock ahead of next month’s draft in Kansas City.