When Justin Layne was a freshman at Michigan State, way back in the dark ages of 2016, there was no NCAA transfer portal. If there had been, perhaps the 6-foot-3, four-star wide receiver recruit who’s now a Steeler would’ve balked at changing positions. Perhaps he would’ve looked elsewhere for a coach who wanted to keep him on offense.
He’s glad he didn’t.
“I wasn’t in favor of it at first,” Layne said matter-of-factly, then laughed. “But it worked out, so I’m in favor of it right now.”
Easy to say when you’re a third-round NFL draft pick who could feature prominently into the Steelers cornerback plans for the foreseeable future. Layne, a three-year starter at Michigan State, is the highest cornerback selection by the Steelers since Artie Burns went in the first round in 2016. The same Artie Burns whose future is in grave danger — is there any other kind — now that he has had the fifth-year option of his contract declined.
So, what to make of Layne, a wiry prospect with perhaps the most intriguing development curve of any Steelers rookie? Logically, you’d assume a converted wide receiver would have better hands than the average defensive back. In reality, Layne notched just three interceptions in his three-year college career, a tidy one pick per season. The Steelers, you might be able to cite off-hand, amassed only eight interceptions as a defense in 2018.
“I mean, I always hope I can help wherever I can,” Layne said Friday after the first day of rookie minicamp. “I don’t want to say I’m going to come in and do whatever, but I definitely want to try to help in that area.”
Given the inherent confidence of any 21-year-old who has been a touted high school player, a Big Ten starter and a top-100 draft pick, Layne thought for a few moments when asked what was the primary concern surrounding him in his NFL evaluation.
“Biggest question? Um, I’d probably say [that] I didn’t have that many touches on the ball, as far as interceptions,” Layne said. “I’d say that’s the main thing.”
And why was that?
“Because I was breaking it up,” Layne replied. “That’s the main thing.”
Indeed, Layne’s 15 pass breakups a season ago tied him for first in the Big Ten and 10th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. His position coach at Michigan State, Paul Haynes, didn’t seem too concerned about the lack of takeaways.
If you build it — er, put yourself in the right position — they will come.
“There’s no doubt that the ball skills are there and he can make plays,” Haynes said. “He started out at wideout, and he definitely had some of the better hands on the team. A lot of times, they didn’t throw his way, so all that plays a factor in getting a bunch of interceptions and all that type of stuff, too.”
According to Haynes, Layne’s snap count was among the highest in the conference — “We never took him out,” he noted — which speaks to his toughness and willingness to compete. Eventually embracing his full-time switch to defense would seem to indicate that, too, but Layne’s time at Michigan State ended strangely.
Layne, focused on his professional future, decided not to play in the Redbox Bowl against Oregon. Spartans coach Mark Dantonio called it “disappointing” at the time, but Layne said NFL teams didn’t question him about it in the pre-draft process.
“I think it was surprising,” Haynes admitted. “But I think he kind of got caught in a different situation with a lot of people pulling at him in a lot of different directions.”
Haynes, who coached Layne for one season, called him “sneaky funny” in addition to being a hard worker. It was commonplace for Layne to make an “off the wall” remark that would have the entire secondary group laughing, and Haynes wondering what he missed.
“They’re going to love him,” Haynes said, “because he has an unbelievable personality. He’s funny, he’s fun, he was fun to coach. I told everybody, you can get after him, you can coach him hard, but I think the Steeler nation is just going to love his personality.
“I kind of have a way-back relationship with Mike [Tomlin], and Mike’s still a players’ coach type of guy. He’ll love Justin, and the DB coach will love Justin.”
They’ll love him even more if he can play the deep ball as well as he played the long game.
“I figured there’s a lot of 6-2, 6-3 receivers,” Layne said, “but there’s not a lot of 6-2, 6-3 cornerbacks that can move like me. So, I was just trying to think about my future, for the most part.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: May 11, 2019, 5:35 p.m.