Most NFL draft pundits agree the Pittsburgh Steelers got great value when they selected cornerback Justin Layne in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. Layne’s length and ball skills are elite and if he can continue to grow as a player he has a chance to be an excellent starter in a man-heavy scheme.
But at least for this season, we wanted to talk about the best-case and worst-case scenarios for Layne, removing any injuries.
Best-case scenario
As things stand right now, Steven Nelson and Joe Haden as the starting outside cornerbacks. But Layne’s best shot to play early could be working past Mike Hilton to be the No. 3 cornerback and lining up in the slot. I know what you are going to say. Yes, Hilton is a great slot cornerback and yes Layne might be too big to line up there all the time.
But we saw last season how the Steelers’ opponents took advantage of size and speed mismatches with tall slot receivers. Layne could easily be the cure for this and give him a great shot to get on the field early and often.
Worst-case scenario
The worst thing that could happen for Layne early is Artie Burns decides to be good again. If Burns finds a way to turn his game around, you can be the Steelers are going to give him all the reps they can to see if he’s worth a new contract next season. This would plant Layne well back on the depth chart and could make him a near non-factor in his rookie season.
Overall
The most likely way this all plays out is Layne and Burns end up the primary backups on the boundary. I’m not banking on Burns turning things around early on so Layne might get some sub reps.
Ultimately we will know more about Layne’s fate this season and beyond late in the preseason. By then we should know if Burns is back on track and if Haden has a new contract. Those two factors will tell us the most about how Layne’s season will play out.
