Joey Porter Jr. seems to be a high-riser as the 2023 NFL Draft approaches.

Porter Jr., the Penn State Football standout cornerback seemingly primed to become the Nittany Lions‘ latest first-round pick, could hear his name called as early as the top-10 selections.

In CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson’s latest NFL Mock Draft projection, Porter Jr. goes No. 8 overall to the Atlanta Falcons:

Joey Porter Jr. is the prototypical big, physical cornerback who looks like he belongs in the NFL. He can sometimes get a little too handsy downfield, but he checks many of the boxes of what teams look for when drafting DBs.

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The Falcons enter the draft with myriad needs, including finding a long-term solution at cornerback, but it is hard to argue potentially dropping a prototypical NFL cornerback into Atlanta’s secondary.

At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Porter Jr. has the ideal length and size the defensive coordinators aim to build a secondary around. The redshirt junior has drawn comparisons in some NFL circles to New York Jets rookie of the year Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.

Last season, Porter Jr. Porter produced 21 total tackles with a career-high 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble.

The Falcons could aim to bolster a secondary that finished the season ranked No. 16 in the NFL. Atlanta surrendered 230.2 passing yards per game in 2022, and faces the likes of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Chris Olave, and Michael Thomas twice each season in the NFC South.

If Porter Jr. lands with the Falcons, as a first-round pick, he’d potentially be a plug-and-play starter opposite fellow first-round pick, A.J. Terrell, chosen by the Falcons in 2020.

 

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