In the third, he took a flyer on massive tight end Darnell Washington. the son of former Steelers linebacker and assistant coach Joey Porter Sr. He traded up in the first round to grab powerhouse left tackle Broderick Jones. Khan’s inaugural run through the draft included a little bit of everything. No wonder he seemed in a rush to make up for lost time. He waited another 11 months before getting a chance to call the shots during the NFL draft. The 6-7, 264-pound Washington joins former Bulldog teammate Broderick Jones, who Pittsburgh selected with the 14th overall pick on Thursday.PITTSBURGH (AP) - Omar Khan spent more than 20 years in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ front office before being promoted to general manager last spring. Pittsburgh used the third-round pick to take Georgia tight end Darnell Washington. 80) to Carolina for a third-round pick (No. The Steelers traded their third-round pick (No. The massive Benton figures to get a shot at playing on the interior line and unlike Porter, won’t face the pressure of living up to the family name of having to start right away not with longtime captain Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi above Benton on the depth chart. Pittsburgh solidified its interior defensive line later in the second round when it selected 6-4, 310-pound defensive lineman Keeanu Benton from Wisconsin. “So every time I walk in here, we’ve got a true to life business. “At the end of the day, it’s business,” Porter said. Yet when the elder Tomlin greeted the younger Porter shortly after Porter became the latest member of the Steelers, Tomlin offered a reminder that the feel-good portion of Porter’s story is over. Porter is also close to Dino Tomlin, son of Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin. It’s telling that as he made his way through the team’s facility on Friday night - with his father and mother close by - that Steelers staff members poured into the hallway to extend a hand or exchange a hug, remembering the kid who spent four summers as a ball boy at training camp and flashed a toothy smile when his dad held him in his arms after the Steelers won the Super Bowl after the 2005 season. It’s an atmosphere Porter is already well-versed in. The Steelers, perhaps more than any team in the NFL, tries to create a family-type atmosphere. Porter played in the northern Pittsburgh suburbs in high school before heading a couple of hours northeast to Penn State. ![]() While the Steelers signed veteran Patrick Peterson during the offseason, they also lost Cam Sutton to Detroit in free agency.Īnd do it in the same city where he grew up. “He’s got a lot of great attributes: size, length, competitive, tough,” Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said.Īustin pointed out there will be no “red shirt” for Porter, who joins a secondary in need an influx of youth and talent. Only four teams allowed more, one of the reasons the Steelers turned to the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Porter. Pittsburgh led the NFL in interceptions in 2022 with 20 but also gave up 29 touchdown passes. While the younger Porter admits he has an “off” switch off the field - something his dad is still trying to master - he also has an edge that he’ll need to thrive with the Steelers. spent eight of his 13 seasons in the NFL in Pittsburgh, making four Pro Bowls, winning a Super Bowl and developing a reputation as one of the more legendary trash talkers in league history. In that way he is very much his father’s son. Packers QB Jordan Love doesn't mind pressure that comes from replacing Aaron Rodgers And Porter believes he will be better off for it. The lonely feeling of spending four hours in a green room while nearly everyone else heads to the stage to bear hug NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is going to stick with Porter for a while. There is a sense of relief in playing in the city where he grew up. ![]() ![]() Suddenly, the sting Porter felt after being passed over 31 times on Thursday - including once by the Steelers - vanished. with the first pick of the second round on Friday. ![]() The cornerback who was a fixture around the Pittsburgh Steelers as a kid during his father Joey Porter Sr.’s stints as a player and then a coach returned to the organization on his own terms when Pittsburgh chose Porter Jr. So rather than trot out the same stylish beige suit for a second straight night, Porter opted to hop a plane and go home. left Kansas City more than a little angry after failing to hear his name called in the first round of the NFL draft.
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