NFL Draft Prospects 2019: Cornerback - Justin Layne, Michigan State
A former All-Ohio receiver, Michigan State coaches moved Justin Layne to the defensive side of the ball midway through his true freshman season.
He ended up starting the team’s final five games and even recorded a pick-six. As a full-time starter in 2017, he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection with eight PBUs and an INT.
He improved to second-team all-conference with 15 passes knocked down, which ranked top ten nationwide.
Layne has experience in a variety of coverages – press-man, two-high safety shells and cover-three, although the Spartans put him out there one-on-one quite a bit and he was at his best right over opponents.
He has a prototype skill-set for a press corner at close to 6’3” with 33-inch arms. Layne is physical off the line and stays plastered to receivers. He has the length to redirect opponents and stick a hand in the basket of receivers quite late.
Layne was all over Ohio State’s wide receivers in their matchup last season, outside of Terry McLaurin getting a step on him once, breaking up several passes. His only touchdown allowed last season came against Arizona State superstar N’Keal Harry.
The former MSU corner plays the eyes and hands of receivers exceptionally well, while also having the trusts to get a hand up when turning his head as well as the long arms to reach in-between the paws of the receiver.
In off-coverage, he shows patient footwork and the way he moved in the on-field drills at the combine showed better change-of-direction and fluidity than I expected. Layne keeps bouncy feet when he is sorting through the trash and shoots upfield when the ball-carrier bounces outside his way.
Overall as a tackler, I would like to see better form, but he arrives low and usually gets the job done. When Layne can come up on receivers stopping for the ball, he blasts through them. He will not allow screen passes on his watch and was used as a blitzer on some occasions as well.
However, Layne’s base gets a little too wide and he allows free access to routes breaking inside. He is a little leggy in general and will have his troubles against some of those shiftier guys.
Layne simply doesn’t give you that closing ability to just read and react to underneath routes when assigned with zone responsibilities. In general, his footwork can get a little sloppy and his awareness in space is still developing. For a former wide receiver, Layne doesn’t catch the ball very naturally and dropped a couple of interceptions on the tape I watched.
Assuming LSU’s Greedy Williams will go in the top 20 at least, this is your next bump-and-run corner to target. Layne can mix up his punches and stabs, crowding receivers not only off the ball, but also at the catch point, and he can play some zone as well.
His hands-on style of play will call for some adjustments, but I don’t see him slipping out of the first 50 draft picks.
Grade: Late Second