This past week on Hard Knocks, Joey Porter Jr. and secondary coach Grady Brown were seen having a conversation in which Brown called on the second-year cornerback to step up heading into 2025 and Porter seems to have accepted that challenge.

"It's gonna be a whole different me in the classroom, on the field," Porter said. "I'm just ready to bring that to the team and do as much as I can to get this (championship)."

The Steelers will need that if they want to improve defensively next season. Porter was the No. 1 cornerback in the Steelers' secondary room. He played opposite Donte Jackson and played 95% or more of the defensive snaps in every game but two, which was due to injury. But as with any second-year cornerback, Porter made mistakes at times that negatively affected the defense.

Since his time at Penn State, Porter has been criticized for being "handsy" and was flagged 17 different times this season, five more than a season ago. Of those 17 penalties, 15 were either defensive holding, defensive pass interference or illegal use of hands. He committed just eight of those types of penalties a season ago. Five of those flags this season were declined or were offsetting penalties, so they didn't have as much of an impact as they could have. 

However, one of the biggest examples of this being a problem for the 24-year-old came against the Bengals. Porter was called for six penalties while matching up against Tee Higgins. Mike Tomlin brushed off that performance the following week by saying: "When we play Shaq, we're going to use our fouls. We're not going to allow them to get us off the block, if you need a basketball analogy."

When Brown challenged Porter to improve this offseason, he highlighted those types of mistakes.

"We've gotta tighten up on the 'My bads.' Guys will own their mistakes, and that's critical. That's important," Brown said. "But, the mistake can't happen. You've got a blind confidence. You don't care who you've gotta cover. You don't care what the score is on the game. It's your time to lead this defense. It's your time to be the dude."

To take that next step, Porter must limit his penalties and mistakes. He has the mindset to be a top corner in the league, meaning being able to move on from a mistake and not allowing it to affect his play. I've seen that mindset in the locker room and on the practice field and it's been shown on Hard Knocks. Tomlin himself highlighted it at times throughout the season. But those problems consistently reared their head.

After the Bengals matchup, Tomlin suggested that Porter's problems stemmed from "technical things at the line of scrimmage that oftentimes led to circumstances down the field," and said that Porter could be better in that way. But, he still liked the way that Porter was physical with Higgins like he had been with D.K. Metcalf the year prior.

"You have to match physicality of these big people, and sometimes you do so at risk," Tomlin said. "That's just a tightrope that I and he are willing to walk in an effort to be competitive."

If Porter takes a step forward, it would do wonders for a defense that lacked cornerback depth this season. Cory Trice Jr. is the only one who is set to return next season as Jackson and James Pierre are both free agents. If he can stay healthy and lock down one side of the field for the passing defense, it could do wonders for both the secondary and the pass rush. Tomlin loves to see players take big steps from their first to second years and now Porter making a big jump going into his third year will be just as important.