Michigan State Football: Who replaces Josiah Scott at CB in 2020?

Josiah Scott has announced his decision to enter the NFL draft, leaving a vacancy at cornerback for Michigan State football. Who fills it in 2020?

Losing Josiah Scott to the NFL draft has it’s benefits for the talented cornerback and, believe it or not, Michigan State football, too.

While it’s going to be nearly impossible to replace his production at cornerback right away, this gives younger guys a chance to take over that No. 1 cornerback spot. Michigan State doesn’t have a shortage of talent at cornerback and depth was always a plus, but the staff had never needed to dip too far into the depth chart with Scott along with Josh Butler and Shakur Brown on the other side.

Scott remained healthy this season so there was no need to look elsewhere for help at cornerback but Mark Dantonio will need to find a new starting duo at corner next season.

Where will he start?

In my opinion, Kalon Gervin has to be considered the No. 1 cornerback heading into next season. He finished the year with just eight tackles, but he’ll be entering his third season with the program and he has the experience and talent to be a lockdown corner. He has gotten decent experience, but there’s still room to grow this offseason.

Outside of the former four-star from Cass Tech, who could find their way into the starting lineup on the opposite side? An early favorite would have to be Shakur Brown who played extensively this season and fared well but don’t be surprised if Julian Barnett moves back to corner. He played receiver this year out of necessity, but he’s a cornerback first.

If you’re looking for sleepers who could rise up and become stars at the position, I’d say that Davion Williams has earned an opportunity. He’s a plus athlete with receiver skills which could benefit him at corner. He could be a Justin Layne-type, though not as big. Soon-to-be redshirt sophomore Christian Jackson could earn some snaps as he was highly-touted out of high school and incoming freshman Angelo Grose has been earning some praise in the high school ranks.

If I were to make an educated guess on who I saw starting at the two cornerback spots next season in the opener, I’d go with Gervin and Brown with Williams and Barnett as the backups.