In the final week of the 2024 season, Cory Trice Jr. was given the ultimate test. In his first-ever NFL start, the second-year cornerback faced the most brutal matchup imaginable: being left on an island with Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro Ja'Marr Chase. As you can imagine, things didn't go as planned.
Being forced to cover arguably the league's best wide receiver all game resulted in Trice allowing 11 catches on 12 targets for 90 yards and a touchdown. This led to plenty of criticism for the young cornerback. Now, Trice vows vengeance.
Following OTAs on Tuesday, the Steelers' media caught up with Trice, who reflected heavily on his January 4 matchup against Chase.
"I'm used to letting up nothing," Trice said, via Nick Farabaugh of PennLive. "What happened there, it will never happen again."
Those are some strong words from a confident cornerback. While it's unimaginable for even a cornerback like Denver Broncos superstar and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II to 'let up nothing' against Ja'Marr Chase, Trice is striving for excellence... and Steelers fans have to love his demeanor.
Cory Trice Jr. has the confidence that could make him a great cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Cory Trice's performance against Ja'Marr Chase in the 2024 regular season finale wasn't nearly as bad as some fans try to make it out to be. Despite giving up big numbers, Trice showcased tight coverage and narrowly missed deflecting a few of those passes. If anything, it says more about the abysmal game plan defensive coordinator Teryl Austin had in this contest, or the impeccable connection between quarterback Joe Burrow and Chase.
But that game is in the past, and Trice is looking ahead to the future.
Trice doesn't have much NFL game experience. In his first training camp, the talented cornerback tore his ACL and never played a game as a rookie in 2023. Then in 2024, Trice suffered a significant hamstring injury that caused him to miss a majority of the season.
Though he has just six games and one start under his belt, Trice's flashes have been fantastic. He had a clutch interception in the red zone against the Broncos that ultimately saved the game, and his coverage has been outstanding for the most part (albeit in limited action).
At 6'3'' and 206 pounds with long arms and 4.47 speed, Trice has tremendous short-area quickness and change-of-direction ability for a big cornerback. But it's these traits, combined with his unphased demeanor, that could allow him to be a great cornerback.
Of course, the biggest hurdle is overcoming his scary injury history. The only thing that prevented Trice from being an early draft pick out of Purdue in 2022 was his lengthy injury history, and he's already had a major injury since then.
We've seen underdogs call out big players before only to get humiliated. Ja'Marr Chase certainly has the skills to beat up on any young cornerback in the league. But Cory Trice Jr. possesses the talent, physicality, and demeanor that he just might hold true to his word if he gets a shot to redeem himself against Chase this year.