A player’s second year is the one Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers view as critical. The “sophomore leap.” No longer are their heads swimming with the transition to the NFL and all that it brings; new coaches, new scheme, new pressure. Consider CB Justin Layne in that boat and Tomlin, speaking with fans on a Steelers Nation Unite conference call.

Here’s what Tomlin said via the team website.

“And the cornerback position, we’re really excited about Justin Layne in the same way [as Devin Bush] was a rookie a year ago. We took him out of Michigan State, he was inactive early on and then carved out a role for himself as a special teamer. So he’s going through the natural participation developmental process and really distinguished himself in a positive way in a practice setting over the second half of the year. Those are usually signs that a guy’s going to take the step in the second year. So we’re excited about him and his development and what he might bring to us at the cornerback position.”

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https://steelersdepot.com/2020/05/to...-justin-layne/