4 Steelers veterans whose roster spots are at risk this year

Justin Layne

Justin Layne has had about as bad of a 6-month stretch as any player on this roster. He got a pass his rookie season due to him being an extremely raw product and one that needed refinement as a coverage player, but last year was discouraging. It was expected that Layne would be the first player off the bench if injuries occurred to one of the starters, and he served in that role for the early portion of the season when he wasn’t really needed.

Then he started getting defensive snaps and getting regularly burnt in coverage. In only 12 targets, he gave up over 125 yards, a score, and a quarterback rating of nearly 140. Those numbers led to Antoine Brooks Jr. getting looks in sub-package plays and James Pierre leapfrogging him on the depth chart. Add in his guilty plea after an issue with the police this offseason and he has almost worked his way off the roster without anyone taking his spot.

His two saving graces are that he is a decent special teams’ player and the Steelers didn’t draft a natural cornerback in this previous draft. That said, with both Shakur Brown (a natural slot mind you) and Mark Gilbert both having strong traits as undrafted rookies, keeping them around in exchange for Layne makes sense. All signs point to him being on the roster or at best, buried on the depth chart and playing special teams early.