Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1499919
3 2 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he NFL Draft held a few surprises for Penn State this year. Some of those were good; inte- rior offensive lineman Juice Scruggs and quarterback Sean Clifford, for example, were both selected earlier than draft ana- lysts had predicted. Indeed, there was talk that Clifford wouldn't be selected at all. However, the first surprise was not so good. After garnering praise as a likely first-rounder, All-America cornerback Joey Porter went undrafted on Day 1, watching from the green room in Kansas City, Mo., while four players at his posi- tion were taken ahead of him. Still, by the time the three-day draft concluded on April 29, six Nittany Li- ons had been selected, a total that was buoyed by three selections in the second round alone. Penn State has now sent a half-dozen players to the league in four of the past six drafts (2018, '19, '21 and '23). Coach James Franklin's program has had at least five players chosen in every draft since 2018. Here's a look at the Nittany Lions' lat- est batch of NFL hopefuls: Joey Porter Jr. ROUND: Second (32nd pick overall) TEAM: Pittsburgh Steelers DETAILS: Porter kept waiting for his name to be called that first night but came away disappointed and upset when cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon of Illinois (fourth overall to Seattle), Em- manuel Forbes of Mississippi State (16th, Washington), Christian Gonzalez of Or- egon (17th, New England) and Deonte Banks of Maryland (24th, New York Gi- ants) went ahead of him. "I was mad," Porter admitted. "I had an edge on me." Those feeling dissipated quickly when he became the first player off the board on Day 2. And he wasn't taken by just any team, but by the one for whom his father, Joey Porter Sr., had played and coached. The elder Porter was an All-Pro line- backer and later an assistant coach with the Steelers. Joey Jr. grew up in the Pitts- burgh area, eventually developing into a three-star recruit at North Allegheny High. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was disappointed to slide out of the first round, but his spirits were lifted when Pittsburgh made him the first player selected on Day 2 of the draft. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE After an opening-night disappointment, Penn State comes on strong in Round 2 of the NFL Draft G R E G P I C K E L A N D N A T E B A U E R | B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D Second Wind