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Justin Layne heading to Pittsburgh, Michigan State keeps draft streak alive
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The first former Michigan State player to be selected in 2019 NFL Draft is Justin Layne.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Layne with the 83rd pick in the draft on Friday night, making the former Spartan a late third-round pick. Layne’s selection also keeps Michigan State’s draft streak alive, which dates back to 1941.
Michigan State has now had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft each year for the last 79 seasons.
Layne was considered to be the top Spartan in the draft and was expected to be potentially an early-to-late second-round pick. His stock seemed to dip a bit this week, but he’s still a Day 2 selection.
Layne was a shut-down defender for Michigan State last season, breaking up 15 passes and registering an interception in 12 games. He also totaled 72 tackles for the year, including 2.5 for a loss.
In three seasons in East Lansing, Layne had 130 total tackles, 24 pass break-ups and three interceptions.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB