The defense of the Spartans led now by new defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton will have a lot to live up to heading into the Mel Tucker-era of MSU football. Under former Head Coach Mark Dantonio the defense was a constant, and now many might need to step up to replace the production of the guys who left for the league.

Breakouts happen every year. You saw it last season with MSU running back Elijah Collins or even Darrell Stewart Jr. until his injury late last season against Penn State — Tanner Morgan at Minnesota, who led the Gophers to a 11-win season, comes to mind.

Here is who could be the breakouts on defense for MSU this season: 

Kalon Gervin

The Cass Tech-graduate and former four-star recruit is slated to step in and compete for a starting spot at cornerback along with Shakur Brown, Julian Barnett and Dominique Long. Gervin, who at 5 feet, 11 inches and 190 pounds is a physical and scrappy corner, just needs to learn to stay on the field. 

Gervin, a redshirt sophomore, has struggled with consistency thus far, but according to Hazelton, is going to have a big year coming up. 

“He's the guy outside playing corner," Hazelton said to the media last week. "He's doing some really good things. He's got really good feet, can stay over the top."

He appeared in 10 games for the Spartans last season, but totaled a mere eight tackles. He has yet to record a pass breakup in college, largely due to his lack of playing time of just 158 total snaps all of last season. 

It’ll be interesting to see if a guy who seems to be talked a lot about early on this year will capitalize off the hype. Gervin’s play style is a good fit in man coverage, and he could step in right away to fill the shoes across from Brown in the defensive backfield.

Noah Harvey

Bachie being suspended for much of the second half of the year last season was a blow to the Spartan defense. 

The senior linebacker who now plays for the New Orleans Saints was on track for another big year before being suspended Oct. 31 of last year following a positive test result for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Now, as a redshirt junior, its time for Harvey to step in and provide a spark at linebacker, a spot left up to him, Chase Kline and Antjuan Simmons. 

Harvey totaled 49 tackles in 13 appearances and five starts during the 2019 season. He played well down the stretch for the Spartans with the Bachie suspension: starting three games at SAM linebacker and weakside linebacker.

Recording 13 tackles in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Wake Forest and a knack for flying to the ball help predict a big season for the redshirt junior. Under the Tucker era, Harvey could step into a major spot for the Spartans at linebacker alongside Simmons, a position that has been a strength for years at MSU since the days of Dan Bass.

Jalen Hunt

As a redshirt freshman, Jalen Hunt has laid low in the storm of preseason talk. He comes from Belleville High School where he played alongside Barnett and offensive lineman Devontae Dobbs. 

But senior center Matt Allen thinks Hunt could be a force.

“One thing he does really well is his get up, off the ball, it’s almost like as soon as I snap he’s moving,” Allen said in a video interview. “He’s like freaky athletic … He definitely can make plays, and he’ll rundown the running back and you’re like, ‘That’s a defensive tackle that did that.'"

Hunt had 24 tackles for loss and 11 sacks his senior year of high school. With the praise from Hazelton and then from someone he consistently faces at practice in Allen, Hunt may become a part of the defensive tackle rotation alongside Naquan Jones. 

Hunt is listed at 6 feet, 4 inches and 330 pounds. To hear “freaky athletic” associated with that level of size could say a lot about the offseason Hunt had.