Former Washington cornerback Kevin King has had to fight his way through injuries to get back to the NFL. In his first preseason game, he may have won the battle after spending the last 30 months away from the league.
King made a great play to haul in an interception from Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson intended for his rookie receiver Malik Washington at midfield. He then took the ball 45 yards and was downed just short of the 15-yard line to give Michael Penix Jr. and the offense the ball back and set up a handoff from Penix to running back Carlos Washington Jr. to score the Falcons’ only touchdown of the game.
Kevin King of the @AtlantaFalcons (formerly of the @packers) played his first NFL snaps since 2021 in the 2024 preseason opener. Four targets, no catches, one pass breakup, one interception. Not bad at all. pic.twitter.com/ywReQlnRMq
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 13, 2024
During his time at Washington, King started his career as a safety and played the position for two years before switching to cornerback ahead of the 2015 season. He immediately took to the change and recorded three interceptions in his first three games.
His play that season earned him an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. He strongly considered declaring for the draft, but defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake, now his defensive coordinator in Atlanta, convinced him to return for his senior season.
That decision paid off and after a successful senior year where he recorded 44 tackles, 3.5 for loss, and 2 interceptions while the Huskies made their way to the College Football Playoff, he earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. Then, the Green Bay Packers drafted him with the first pick of the second round (No. 33 overall) in the 2017 NFL draft.
Unfortunately, his time with the Packers was marred by a variety of injuries and King decided to sit out the 2022 season to get healthy after missing 29 games over his first five seasons. In 2023, he ruptured his Achilles tendon while training to get back into football shape and had to prolong his return to the game before the Falcons took a chance on him and signed him to a one-year, $1.125 million contract in April.
King’s performance on Friday’s game against the Dolphins was nothing less than spectacular. He allowed no catches on four targets, with an interception and a pass breakup for an opponent passer rating of 0.0
Coach Raheem Morris and the Falcons came into training camp with a battle for the starting cornerback job across from A.J. Terrell and King has put himself into the thick of the conversation for the job.
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