With the 2024 season in the books, it's time to take a deeper dive into player performances over the past year. The Pittsburgh Steelers' roster holes became glaringly evident throughout the season. A few of those holes came at the cornerback position.
After an encouraging rookie season, the Steelers expected a second-year leap out of Joey Porter Jr. Instead, his sophomore campaign was met with inconsistent play and a barrage of penalties (15 called against the young CB in 2024, to be exact).
The Steelers also believed they were getting a quality starting cornerback out of Donte Jackson, whom they acquired in the Diontae Johnson trade with the Carolina Panthers during the 2024 offseason. Though Jackson recorded five interceptions, he struggled on a down-to-down basis in coverage while giving up 473 yards on 506 coverage snaps.
Pittsburgh's cornerback group needs a makeover and this is a position the Steelers should invest in during the 2025 offseason. However, it was the unlikeliest cornerback of all who showcased the most promise in 2024.
Steelers have a football player in Cory Trice Jr.
We witnessed flashes from undrafted rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. in his first season—who came up with big interceptions in the clutch. Likewise, Porter's skillset and still worth betting on. However, Cory Trice Jr. was the Steelers' most promising cornerback after the 2024 season.
Trice missed the middle of the season as he dealt with a hamstring injury, but when he was on the field, he was impressive. Since the bye week, Trice's 67.8 coverage grade was by far the highest at the cornerback position for the Steelers, per Pro Football Focus.
#Steelers cornerback PFF coverage grades since the bye week:
— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) January 8, 2025
🟩Cory Trice: 67.8 (103 coverage snaps)
🟨James Pierre: 58.1 (84 snaps)
🟧Joey Porter Jr.: 50.2 (306 snaps)
🟧Beanie Bishop Jr.: 49.7 (121 snaps)
🟧Cam Sutton: 49.7 (175 snaps)
🟥Donte Jackson: 44.9 (234 snaps)
Entering Week 18, Trice's coverage grade was the best in the NFL (albeit on a small sample). Then defensive coordinator Teryl Austin made the young cornerback play on an island against Ja'Marr Chase—an All-Pro wide receiver and triple-crown winner.
Left one-on-one, Chase would make any cornerback in the league look bad. While Trice didn't have a great game against Chase, he was just a step behind in coverage and never missed a tackle. Now looking ahead, it's easy to see a bright future for Trice.
At 6'3'' and 206 pounds with 32 3/8'' arms and excellent athletic traits, there aren't many NFL cornerbacks as big and fluid as Trice. The Purdue product has the ability to mirror defenders in man coverage or shut down traffic in zone coverage.
Trice also has impressive ball skills. In his first NFL action in 2024, the second-year CB recorded two interceptions (one came on a two-point conversion and doesn't count toward season statistics).
All of this doesn't guarantee Trice a future as a starting cornerback on the Steelers, but perhaps it should. The 24-year-old cornerback has prototype traits and a tremendous feel for the position. This was on full display when he was on the field in 2024. Now it's all about staying healthy, as it was Trice's scary injury history that caused him to slip in the 2023 NFL Draft in the first place.
The Steelers still need to invest in a cornerback in 2025, but they have a football player in Cory Trice Jr.