Michigan State Football: Can Josh Butler take the reins at CB?

Michigan State football is down one cornerback, but the Spartans have plenty of depth, including veteran Josh Butler who could take the reins.

Entering his junior season with Michigan State, Josh Butler finally has the opportunity he’s been waiting patiently for. He’s got a chance to grab hold of the starting cornerback job and make the coaches think twice before sending him back to second-string.

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However, he has his work cut out for him. He’ll be battling it out for the next week, or so, with redshirt freshman Shakur Brown as well as sophomore Tre Person. Those two are the presumed favorites to make a push for the open spot while Kalon Gervin, Corey Pryor and Jiah Norman are also in the mix.

Xavier Henderson, too, could move over from safety to showcase his versatility.

In the end, though, it looks like a three-man race with Butler holding a slight lead. If that’s the case, he’ll have a 3-4 game tryout for that starting job and if he does well enough, he could find himself splitting snaps in the defensive backfield with Josiah Scott and Justin Layne.

A year ago, Butler has his most productive season to date, finishing with 12 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and three pass deflections. He has a chance to match those numbers in just a couple of weeks, and he has the talent to do just that.

Can he take the reins, though, or will he be surrendering that starting job to Brown or Person?

Butler has the experience and potential to be a lockdown cornerback and he’s looked good during fall camp, according to the coaches. The defense has reportedly won both scrimmages and that’s with Butler taking a good chunk of reps with the ones.

Don’t be surprised to see Butler exceed expectations, hold onto the starting job and develop into a No. 1B cornerback when Scott returns. This may be the deepest Mark Dantonio’s defensive backfield has ever been.