In his cornerback rankings, the Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. left Sauce Gardner out of his top five
Appearing on The Schultz Report Show, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. ranked the top five cornerbacks in the NFL. A certain member of the New York Jets didn’t make the cut.
#Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. lists his top 5 NFL corners! 🔒 pic.twitter.com/X1Imqt9imP
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) June 25, 2024
Porter Jr. put Tennesse’s L’Jarius Snead at number one, Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie at number two, Chicago’s Jaylon Johnson at number three, Denver’s Patrick Surtain at number four, and himself at number five. Sauce Gardner was nowhere to be found.
To Porter Jr.’s credit, the list does contain a talented list of cornerbacks. Every player on the list should be considered in the upper echelon of the position.
However, leaving Gardner off the list is egregious at best. The Cincinnati product has consistently shut down opposing wide receivers in his first two seasons. Gardner has repeated his elite production time and time again, such as allowing only one touchdown and posting a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 90.0+ in each of the past two seasons. He also allowed 0.43 yards per cover snap in 2023, even better than his 0.56 as a rookie.
These numbers have helped Gardner become a first-team All-Pro selection and Pro Bowl selection in two straight seasons. Most media outlets and analysts realize Garnder’s talent and have agreed that he is in the upper echelon of the position. However, Porter Jr. is the latest example of a player not showing Gardner the respect that he has earned through his play.
Porter Jr.’s decision could be based on various reasons, whether it is not liking Gardner’s game, having jealousy toward the star cornerback, or something in the middle.
For a player who constantly keeps to himself and produces on the field, Gardner receives a confusing amount of disrespect. Those detractors, however, will just give the star cornerback more motivation to continue his elite play in 2024.
