hello Josh,
unfortunately, I have bad news for you. The digitizer is of low quality and astronomically expensive. I even think you overpaid at least 2x. The nice curve of the digitizer tape defends itself (glueing), sloppy tapes usually rise and cause the surface of the screen to rise. However, I expect poor quality glue on the edges, and the scratches are terrible. Worldwide, this digitizer costs about $12 and in the version without glue, folded tapes and front camera bracket even $8
such a digitizer like this one should have two pieces of protective plastic: one on the outside and one on the inside. The inner one acts as an antistatic dust barrier, the upper one should protect the antiphobic coating, which is probably not here, but that's another thing.
Are you sure you removed both layers of plastic? If you also replaced the matrix, there will also be a protective plastic on this one. [guide|155226|More details can be found here - step 20-21|new_window=true]