4 Steelers players who deserve more playing time down the stretch
By Tommy Jaggi
Steelers CB Justin Layne
It’s still impossible to justify that former Michigan State cornerback, Justin Layne, was a good draft choice at this point in time. Despite some NFL Draft experts pegging him as a late-first-round prospect in 2019, Layne has not lived up to his billing so far.
Still, there’s plenty of reasons why the Steelers should start giving him more opportunities down the stretch. Joe Haden has missed time in two straight weeks and James Pierre has really struggled in his place — so much so that the team turned to Ahkello Witherspoon as the starter in Week 13.
Surprisingly, it was Layne who played in sub-packages for the Steelers against the Ravens; not Pierre. In a limited role, I thought Layne played remarkably well — showing quick closing speed and coming up to make plays at the line of scrimmage.
We knew when the Steelers drafted Layne that he was going to be a project. Now that he finally seems to be getting it, Keith Butler should see how he does in an even bigger role down the stretch.