News, notes and nuggets from NFL Network coverage of Day Two of the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis:
FAMILY TRADITION: For a couple of moments as the cornerbacks ran their 40-yard dashes, Lucas Oil Stadium became a Porter House.
"I can't believe Joey Porter's son is at a Combine," NFL Network host Rich Eisen observed. "It was just like yesterday he was on our show, on 'Total Access' at Super Bowl XL, slaggin' on Jerramy Stevens of the Seahawks, just takin' it and walkin' it on behalf of the Steelers.
"His son is here."
Not only was Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on the field to run for the talent evaluators, former Steelers linebacker and assistant coach Joey Porter was in the stands to watch it happen.
NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales asked dad why he had encouraged his son to return to Penn State for the 2022 season rather than enter the NFL Draft a year ago.
"He hadn't graduated at that point in time," Porter said. "He had only really played two good years of football from his redshirt year then from his sophomore and his junior year. I just thought it would help him out if he played another year. Three years of football wasn't really gonna be that much on your body. I thought he needed it. I thought it put him in a better situation and so far it's coming true.
"He felt like he was a little handsy the year before. He definitely wanted to clean that up. He just wanted to sharpen up his overall game. I just thought it would put him in a better situation if he stayed another year, so he did."
Porter's presence in the stadium, on television and on the Jumbotron while watching Porter Jr. run constituted a first.
"This is Combine history," NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah announced. "We've never been able to see a father's instant live reaction."
Porter Jr. was clocked unofficially at 4.47 seconds on his initial 40 and 4.52 on his second attempt.
The official time eventually came in at 4.46.
"Definitely was not his best running," Porter assessed. "Still have the Pro Day to make it better."
Porter Jr. didn't take part in on-field drills.
Jeremiah maintained he's an eventual Top 15 selection.
"He's a matchup problem," Porter critiqued. "He's almost 6-3, (Porter Jr. officially measured at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds), long arms. He really plays bump-and-run man. He's a physical corner.
"His length is his strength. He'll give people problems getting off the line of scrimmage, that's his biggest strength. He can beat you up at the line of scrimmage and play physical football and I think it's gonna happen."
RUNNING THE SHOW: Veteran Steelers scout Mark Gorscak, a fixture running the 40s at the Combine, was noticable vocally and forcefully clearing traffic in the area at one juncture which momentarily delayed Purdue cornerback Corey Trice Jr. at the starting line.
Gorscak's interjection prompted the following exchange between Jeremiah and Eisen.
Jeremiah: "I'll tell you what, the Steelers didn't make the playoffs this year, Mark's a little cranky."
Eisen: "Well, they finished strong."
Jeremiah: "Yeah, Mike Tomlin doesn't finish under .500, that's not allowed to happen. He's never gonna allow that to happen."
BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER: Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson visited the NFL Network booth, still impressed by the combination of size and speed he had seen from the interior defensive linemen, edge rushers and linebackers on Day One.
"Those big guys, they get leaner and they get faster every single year," Pederson said. "These guys are just getting long and lengthy and athletic. I see why they're putting so much pressure on quarterbacks."
SUBTERFUGE: Jeremiah insisted the reactions of individual coaches running drills toward specific players are not to be trusted.
"When coaches are doing these drills and they really like a player a lot of times they'll yell at him as if he's done something wrong in the drill, as if that's gonna somehow pull him down a little bit so he could be there when they pick," Jeremiah contended. "I've seen it here and I've seen it at Pro Days.
"They'll bring the guy back to do it three times in a row as if he's not doing it right. He's literally doing exactly what you just told him to do and what the other 20 guys before him just did."
MAKING AN IMPRESSION: More history, apparently, was made when Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel visited with Jeremiah and Eisen.
McDaniel wore jeans and a leather, zip-up jacket over a T-shirt.
He also offered up the following in response to a question about quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: "The only thing you know is that you know nothing."
"I've never seen a coach come into our booth dressed like Fonzie quoting Socrates," Jeremiah noted. "That's the first time that's ever happened."
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Michigan cornerback D.J. Turner ran a 4.26 40, which tied for the fourth-fastest on record since 2003, then called it a day. NFL Network analyst Charles Davis said the plan all along was for Turner to run in Indianapolis and then work out for scouts at Michigan's Pro Day.
UP NEXT: Quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers are scheduled to take over during Day Three of on-field drills.
