Where could Penn State corner Kalen King go in the NFL Draft? NFLN’s Daniel Jeremiah weighs in
Penn State cornerback Kalen King entered the 2023 season looking like a future early-round NFL Draft pick who might even end up coming off the board by the time the first round ended. Fast forward to now, however, and the Michigan native will need a big performance at the NFL Combine to bolster his stock following an up-and-down last season with the Nittany Lions and a Senior Bowl trip that probably wasn’t as bad as many thought but also wasn’t dazzling.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said one game, and matchup, in particular, has evaluators wrestling with what to make of King’s game after he put plenty of good things on film as a freshman and sophomore but struggled to replicate the same kind of play as a junior.
“Look, I don’t think Kalen had the year that he would want,” Jeremiah said. “Part of it is — the tough thing is when you have marquee players in your conference at a position that you’re going to go up against, that’s the first tape everybody is going to watch. So when you are watching Penn State and you’ve got a corner, you are going to pop on the Ohio State game. That’s the first game you’re going to watch, and Marvin Harrison got after him a little bit in that game. That’s the first impression that’s hard to shake.”
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What round could Penn State cornerback Kalen King go in?
Many assumed that, based on last season and the Senior Bowl, King had absolutely fallen deep into the Day 2 pool of talent. Jeremiah, however, thinks the Penn State letterman will likely still be available on Day 3. But, he still has the Combine, Penn State Pro Day, and private team workouts left to boost his stock.
“He has good quickness,” Jeremiah said. “I’m curious to see the top-end speed, how he runs. He’s good working downhill, and he can play top-down. I think he is a little more comfortable, a little more natural. I just thought there were too many times where he struggled to stay in phase and find and play the ball down the field with his back to the quarterback. That was a little bit of the issue there. The grade that I have him right now puts him kind of in that fourth-round range. I’m sure some others might have him a little bit higher, but that’s where I have him positioned at this point in time.”
