We should not be jumping too far ahead of ourselves, but Kalen King may be on the fast track to greatness at Penn State. King, a true freshman and one of the top recruits in Penn State’s Class of 2021 came into Saturday’s spring practice in Beaver Stadium receiving high praise from his coaches and peers, and on Saturday he wasted little time showing why.
Of all of the players on Penn State’s roster, who would you have picked to score the first touchdown of the brief scrimmage on Saturday afternoon? Oen of the Big Ten’s top returning receivers, Jahan Dotson? Maybe one of Penn State’s running backs, like Devyn Ford? Guess again. It was true freshman cornerback Kalen King, who returned an interception of Ta’Quan Roberson 25 yards for the first touchdown of the day.
The first touchdown of the day? Give that to true freshman defensive back Kalen King.
Welcome to college football, kid. pic.twitter.com/PGwM2sFDQI
— Onward State (@OnwardState) April 17, 2021
First TD of the spring? Freshman Kalen King with a pick-6 off Ta'Quan Roberson.
Hey, have you heard that King has had a good spring? Well, you should've bc it's been talked about a lot. There you see why. Working with the second-team defense.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) April 17, 2021
King picked off a second pass later in the scrimmage, giving him two interceptions in his first quasi-spring game experience. Not too shabby at all.
James Franklin complimented King in his post-practice comments, suggesting King could be locking down a role in the Penn State defense right away.
Franklin on true freshman corner Kalen King:
"He's physically ready…He's also very mature…He's got ball skills…Some guys like him, the ball just likes him…We've seen it all Spring."
— CommRadio Sports (@CommRadioSports) April 17, 2021
Penn State’s secondary was already projected to be arguably the best unit on the defense in the fall, and that was mostly without King being a fixture in the secondary. But a strong spring is showing this secondary could be even deeper than originally anticipated.
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