Former Penn State cornerback Kalen King was the 255th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft out of 257 possible selections. That eventual phone call from Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers provided him with relief after what had been a very long few days.
“Today was honestly,” said King with a pause, “I feel like this whole experience definitely was one of the toughest things I’ve mentally had to endure in my life, but I felt like today was a blessing and curse. Even though I didn’t get drafted where I wanted to, I felt like God made the right choice for me. Every decision and everything happens for a reason. I feel like I’m in a place where I’m supposed to be and I’m happy I got my named called.”
This time a year ago, there were a number of draft analysts who projected King to be a potential first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
King was coming off a 2022 season with Penn State, where he was named a second-team Walter Camp All-American. That season, King allowed a completion rate of just 45 percent on 59 targets, showcasing excellent ball production with nine pass breakups and three interceptions.
This past season, however, King’s play and ball production took a fairly big step back. He would surrender a completion rate of 61 percent on 41 targets and totaled just one pass breakup the entire year. Also, not help King’s draft stock was that he ran a 4.61-second 40-yard dash.
“I mean, I feel like the way I approach the game is always the same,” said King about his play in 2023. “I put in the work and I know what I’m capable of. Just because I got picked towards the end of the seventh round this year doesn’t mean that’s the player I am. That’s just where I was slotted to be. Going to go into the NFL, my career really starts now.
“Anything before this point, I feel like doesn’t matter anymore. With me having this opportunity with the Green Bay Packers, I feel like nothing happened last year. Everything is happening exactly how it’s supposed to. To answer your question, I feel like everything happens for a reason and I feel like I’m in the right place now.”
The latter portion of the NFL draft is all about taking a swing on upside and potential and trying to identify a key trait or two that teams believe can be developed.
King is a former All-American who played as one of the top cornerbacks in football for a full season and did so at a top-tier program. He also has three years of playing experience and is still just 21 years old. So, there is plenty to bet on from the Packers’ perspective.
Ben Fennell, a draft guru who works for NFL Network, recently mentioned that his two NFL comps for King were Casey Hayward and Logan Ryan. Of note with these two players is their versatility. Hayward played both from the slot and on the boundary throughout his career, as did Ryan, who also played at safety.
Perhaps the Packers view King in a similar light, and he is someone who can fill a few different roles, depending on where the need is, along with where he fits best.
“I think our league has a long history of guys who felt they were overlooked and use that as motivation to drive themselves,” said Gutekunst about King. “Hopefully, that’ll be the case. I didn’t hear that interview. Certainly, he was a guy that we expected to go higher, and as we went through it, we felt very fortunate to be able to pick him where we did.
“He’s got a really nice skill set. Has played some high-level football at Penn State. He’s got some versatility to play outside and to play nickel as well. And again, I think his best football is ahead of him as well. He’s a young player. He was a three-year player coming out. So, hopefully, that does drive him. We’re going to have a very competitive secondary right now and I feel really good about that and it’s going to be fun to watch those guys excel.”
King joins a Packers’ cornerback room that does have some unknowns right now. Carrington Valentine and Eric Stokes will presumably be battling for the starting boundary position opposite of Jaire Alexander, but both come with question marks. The nickel could be viewed as an upgradeable position as well.
While it’s expected that Valentine will make a Year 2 leap after what we saw from him last season, that is never guaranteed either. Meanwhile, I’m not sure anyone knows what to expect from Stokes, who had a down 2022 season prior to his injury before missing most of 2023.
However, despite some of those concerns outside the building, the fact that the Packers waited to address the cornerback position until the seventh round, while having the opportunity to add to it in the first and second rounds, tells us that internally, they feel pretty good about the group that they have.
For King, unknowns can lead to opportunities. Last summer, the Packers cornerback room was viewed a strength of that team, but Valentine, who was also a seventh-round pick, would end up seeing significant playing time.
While in the moment, the fall down the draft board certainly stung, King is going to use that as motivation moving forward.
“It’s extremely motivating,” said King about being taken in the seventh round. “Not going where you thought you would go, seeing all the names being picked ahead of you, just enduring all that, seeing that and I felt like it put a chip on my shoulder, a permanent chip on my shoulder that I gotta keep there.
“I felt like the Packers are going to get one of the most competitive guys in the country, a tough corner, physical corner who’s going to give 100% effort around the field at all times and make as many plays as I possibly can by doing it at 100%.”
