Justin Layne

Former cornerback at Michigan State. 2018: 1 interception, 11 pass breakups, 62 tackles.

CB · Michigan State · Jr. · #2

6′3″ · 185 lb · Cleveland, OH

Pittsburgh — drafted 2019, Rd 3, Pick 19, #83 overall

Recruiting

4★

WR recruit

No. 179 nationally · Signed with Michigan State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former cornerback at Michigan State. 2018: 1 interception, 11 pass breakups, 62 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Michigan State in 2016.
Drafted round 3 by the Pittsburgh in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Michigan State, 120 tackles — drafted at #83 overall by Pittsburgh.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20167 games

Signed with Michigan State4-star out of Benedictine

2019

Drafted by Pittsburghround 3, pick 83

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#179 national

CFB

College

Michigan State

2016–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #83

Pittsburgh · 2019

Coaching lineage · 2016–2018

1 coach

2016–2018

Mark Dantonio

Michigan State

Played his entire career under Mark Dantonio.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

PittsburghEntering 8th NFL season

#83Rd 3 · Pick 19

PittsburghEntering 8th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Mark Dantonio — 20-18 over that span.

2016Michigan State3-9HC: Mark Dantonio · Run-leaning

2017Michigan State10-3HC: Mark Dantonio · Run-leaning

2018Michigan State7-6HC: Mark Dantonio · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (99th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (86th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#31 / 2662 · 99th pct

Solo tackles#343 / 2662 · 86th pct

Tackles#391 / 2662 · 85th pct

QB hurries#730 / 2662 · 63rd pct

Interceptions#323 / 805 · 30th pct

Tackles for loss#1758 / 2662 · 28th pct

1.0

Sacks#1396 / 2662 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2018 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	6.7	0.2	0.0	1.3
Road5g	4.4	0.0	0.0	0.6

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	7.0	0.2	0.0	0.7
Weeks 8+5g	4.0	0.0	0.0	1.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Backup

On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	Michigan State	62	38	1.0	11	1	--
2017	Michigan State	40	24	0.5	8	1	--
2016	Michigan State	18	11	1.5	1	1	--
Career		120	73	3.0	20	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2018

W 21–17

at Penn State

7 TOT · 4 SOLO · 1 PD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 on the road.

With T. Hunt — 40 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 49 LONG · B. Lewerke — 259 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · 20 rush yds (12 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2018 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 38-31vs Utah State	5	4	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	L 13-16@ Arizona State	6	4	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	W 35-21@ Indiana	7	6	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 31-20vs Central Michigan	9	8	0.0	1	1	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 6	L 19-29vs Northwestern	8	6	1.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 21-17@ Penn State	7	4	0.0	—	1
Wk 8	L 7-21vs Michigan	5	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 23-13vs Purdue	7	3	0.0	—	4
Wk 10	W 24-3@ Maryland	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 6-9@ Nebraska	1	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	W 14-10vs Rutgers	6	1	0.0	—	2
Total		62	38	1.0	1	11

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology