Stepping into a new defensive system with only a few days of practice is quite a challenging task, but that did not stop Joey Porter Jr. from making an immediate impact for the Dallas Cowboys. In his debut on Sunday against the Houston Texans, he played 25 total snaps, with 19 coming in coverage and six on running plays.
On the surface, he appeared to do well. His name was never called, and that’s always a good thing for a cornerback. But what did all that quietness mean? Did the Cowboys land themselves
a stud player? While 25 snaps is a small sample, we can still dig into the tape to assess the first bit of action from the team’s new defensive asset.
The biggest thing that stands out from his debut is that he was practically glued to the hip pocket of his receiver. This is easily one of his greatest strengths. Porter Jr. maintains a near-perfect, close-contact trail position, and he achieved this whether he was jamming at the line of scrimmage or allowing the receiver to come to him. His footwork was precise, and he was able to speed-match the receiver, essentially running the route for his man. He was absolutely smothering, which explains why Texans’ quarterback C.J. Stroud avoided his side of the field almost all game.
Porter Jr. also has a great feel for anticipating the route break. He was a subtle grabber, keeping his hand lightly on the receiver so he could instantly feel when they dropped their weight to decelerate and make a sharp cut. There is a fine line between good technique and drawing a flag playing that style, and he did a good job handling that. There was simply no separation for the Texans receivers when he was covering them.
The only time receivers found any breathing room was when he was playing zone. Even then, the veteran corner did a good job communicating and passing off receivers. You could actually see him pointing and directing teammates mid-play. The Cowboys defense in general struggled to handle these transitions, and many of the Texans’ big receiving plays came in these moments, but none of those breakdowns were attributable to anything Porter Jr. did wrong.
When traveling with a receiver across the field, he did a great job staying attached the entire time, even when the Texans tried to pick him off over the middle. Receivers tried to cross paths and create obstructions for him, but Porter Jr. handled the traffic well.
He was so physical that he controlled the running path almost as much as his man did, making it incredibly hard for a receiver to trap him. He jammed and knocked his man slightly off his path and quickly recognized when a rub was coming. The Texans tried this a couple of times on Sunday, but they could not shake him loose.
Of his 19 coverage snaps, he was only targeted once and did not allow a reception. That is the exact kind of stat line a shutdown corner gives you, and it was immediately evident that the Texans’ offense respected his ability.
There were a couple of things that were not all that great. The Texans showed that a cornerback can be completely avoided while the offense still racks up big plays elsewhere. There were times when Porter Jr. was just occupying space, not doing much to actively disrupt the play.
This was just his first game and he is just getting acclimated, so it’s not a huge issue at all. Going forward, the coaches will need to find a way to use him to lock down one side of the field while allocating more safety help to others, particularly DaRon Bland, who was picked on early and often in this game.
The only other real concern was his contribution in run support. He has a bit of a reputation for not being a very willing tackler, and in this game, it showed. His effort on running plays was weak, almost looking like a business decision where he was content to let everyone else do the dirty work. We do not know if that is just how he rolls typically or if this was just a take-it-easy first-game effect. We will find out soon enough, but it might be wise for fans to temper their expectations when it comes to his tackling contributions.
Overall, it was a strong performance by the team’s new cornerback. Had the front office not made that midweek trade, the coaching staff would be in the hot seat right now because the Cowboys almost assuredly would have lost that game. It feels nice to finally have a corner who can single-handedly neutralize a receiver. Once the coaches figure out how to use him to his full potential, this secondary will be considerably stronger.
