Rock Ya-Sin is having a terrible, no good, very bad start to the season with the Detroit Lions.
Through two games, Ya-Sin has a PFF grade of 46.9, allowing a 116.2 passer rating and seven total receptions in 95 total snaps. His greater workload could be what's leading to such ineffective defense from him, but more than likely, this just has to do with the fact that his skillset is incongruent with what the Lions are looking to achieve with their scheme.
Would a trade for a starting cornerback solve the Ya-Sin problem for Detroit? Well, at minimum, it could provide the team with an actual starting corner to slot next to D.J. Reed, and ideally it'd be someone faster and taller than Ya-Sin. As of now, though, the only cornerback that seems to be available via trade is Joey Porter Jr.
Lions' only current solution lies in Pittsburgh
Let's lay out the pros and cons of acquiring Porter.
The pros: the Lions would get a starting cornerback added back to their roster, making their pass defense a lot less porous for the rest of the season. They could also, finally, lock down a younger starting corner if they extend Porter, which is likely to be the case if they're trading for him.
They could also, potentially, talk him into playing through a prove-it season on his current $3.5 million deal, which barely makes a dent in the Lions' current cap space.
Porter is also simply good at his job, with SideLion Report's Ronnie Martin recently writing about the defender:
"Porter has been one of the best cornerbacks in the league since he stepped on the scene. Per NextGen Stats (NGS), he hasn't allowed a touchdown since week eight of his rookie season - 1,467 consecutive snaps - marking the longest streak of any cornerback in the NGS era."
"In 2025, Porter allowed a passer rating of 62.3, and the closest comparison on the Lions was Avonte Maddox at 72.9. Porter also played more than twice as many snaps as Maddox (NGS). With Brian Branch injured, Maddox is set to replace him at safety, only amplifying the weakness at cornerback."
He plays man well, which matches up with the Lions' scheme on defense and with Kelvin Sheppard's philosophy.
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Now, here are the cons: Porter is seeking an extension likely to the tune of four years, $110 million, per Spotrac. That's quite rich for a Lions team that's already holding one of the league's highest payrolls on defense.
Additionally, do the Lions want to tie themselves down to a cornerback that matches up with the style of a defensive coordinator that may not even stick around? Sheppard just had another bad game against the Bills, and yes, you can chalk up some of the defense's issues up to personnel. But, you can't really blame personnel for Sheppard's relentless blitzing, which kept leaving their secondary exposed to both Josh Allen's passing and his legs.
Detroit is running out of time to figure out what the real issue is with their defense: is it Sheppard not being fluid enough to adapt to in-game information, or a lack of talent in the cornerback room to help out the teams' defensive line? Another loss - to the New York Jets, for example - should kick this conversation into overdrive.
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