One thing that fans are always interested to learn after a team selects their new draft class is which jersey numbers each player will wear. The Pittsburgh Steelers loaded up on talent this year, and a few of their players will have a chance to stick around for a long time if all goes well.
Recently, we discovered which jersey number second-round pick, Joey Porter Jr. intends to sport in the black and gold. To the surprise of some, Porter won't be rocking a single-digit number. Rather, he's going to honor Ike Taylor by wearing the number '24' for the Steelers.
Taylor recently appeared on a podcast with Dave Dameshek in which he revealed Porter Jr.'s intention to wear the number '24' to honor 'Uncle Ike'. Taylor said that Joey Porter Sr. told him that he is going to wear '2-4'. This has not yet been confirmed by the team.
Ike Taylor passes the torch to Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr.
Joey Porter Jr. wore number 9 during his Penn State career, and we thought he might be the first Pittsburgh Steeler to take advantage of the NFL's new single-digit number rules. However, it appears that won't be the case.
Instead, Ike Taylor will pass the torch to the young Porter Jr. Coincidentally, many used the Ike Taylor comparison when talking about Porter during the pre-draft process. Both are long, gritty cornerbacks who don't have particularly good ball skills, but possess the desired physicality and mentality to go toe-to-toe with any wide receiver.
Obviously, there's no guarantee that Porter has a 12-year Steelers career like Ike did in Pittsburgh, but hopes are high for the second-generation NFL talent. Porter will now wear the number of one of the players he grew up around when his father was playing for Pittsburgh back in the day.
The only other known jersey number at this time from the Steelers 2023 draft class is Broderick Jones'. The first-round offensive tackle will wear the number 77 to honor his late friend, Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock, who was killed earlier this year in a car crash.
Some NFL teams have already released the jersey numbers of their 2023 draft class, so we can expect to find out what number the rest of the Steelers rookie class will be wearing this year very soon.