Steelers cornerback very impressed with rookie at OTAs
There's no margin for error when you're a rookie, especially when you're one of the last players picked in the draft. Proving yourself to your teammates and coaches is a constant battle.For the Pittsburgh Steelers' seventh-round pick Cory Trice Jr., that battle is going as good as possible. Opportunities for late-round draft picks are slim, […]
There's no margin for error when you're a rookie, especially when you're one of the last players picked in the draft. Proving yourself to your teammates and coaches is a constant battle.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers' seventh-round pick Cory Trice Jr., that battle is going as good as possible.
Opportunities for late-round draft picks are slim, but they first appear in May when the team gets together for the first time in OTA sessions. It's where Trice is making early and positive impressions on the team that drafted him just weeks ago.
Earlier this week, Trice had interceptions on back-to-back plays, though the first one was argued to be pass interference on him.
Nevertheless, the boldness to come back on the very next snap to make the same play said a lot according to veteran cornerback Levi Wallace.
"For him to go back-to-back. He makes a good play, and I don't know if it was pass interference or not; I wasn't looking. But then he comes back and gets the interception," Wallace said of the impressive sequence of plays. "That's what being a corner is about—forgetting—whatever happened, happened."
Wallace's perspective on having a quick memory is valid. After signing with the Steelers to be a starter last year, he finally found consistency towards the end of the season. He graded out at 76.9 per Pro Football Focus, which ranked 19th among starting cornerbacks, during the final five weeks of the season.
In his final season at Purdue, Trice hauled in two of his five career interceptions and allowed a completion percentage of just 48% despite being targeted a career-high 44 times.
His quick development coupled with Joey Porter Jr. getting acclimated as a starter bodes well for the Steelers' secondary that still has Wallace under contract for another year. A to Z Sports' Rob Gregson has Trice making the Week 1 roster as the sixth cornerback.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
