College Coach on Packers CB Kalen King: ‘Batman And Robin’

What happened to Kalen King, who went from 2022 All-American to third-to-last pick in the 2024 NFL Draft? Penn State assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith explains.

Kalen King makes a leaping interception. / Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – How did Kalen King go from All-American and potential first-round draft pick at Penn State to a seventh-round draft pick and the last cornerback selected in the 2024 NFL Draft?

“It’s a good question,” Penn State assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith told Packer Central. “It’s relative. He didn’t have the year he had prior, but he didn’t have a bad year, either, because he didn’t give up a touchdown pass all year. For two years, he didn’t give up a touchdown pass.

“But he didn’t have the stats that we all wanted. We wanted the picks and we wanted the pass breakups and we wanted total dominance at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes, there’s a difference between being Batman and Robin.”

In 2022, Batman was Joey Porter, a first-round pick by the Steelers in 2023 who made the All-Rookie team. King, meanwhile, was asked to go from sidekick to superhero but forgot his cape and toolbelt of gadgets.

“That guy took all the heat, the pressure, the main responsibilities. The spotlight’s on that guy,” Smith said of Porter. “And then, all of a sudden, you’re in that seat, and sometimes that’s difficult. But Kalen came to work every day. He showed up and prepared like he did the year before. It wasn’t a lack of preparation or anything like that. We just didn’t find the consistency the way we had it the year before in playmaking.”

In 2022, King ranked third nationally with 21 passes defensed. In 2023, he had only two. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed a completion percentage of 45.8 percent in 2022 compared to 61.0 percent in 2023. However, in 12 games, he allowed 45-plus yards in only two. And in his final three games, PFF charged him with zero completions allowed.

“He wasn’t bad at all. He just didn’t produce the numbers in coverage,” Smith said. “Like I said, he didn’t give up a touchdown. In our world, that’s first and foremost because, when they don’t score, they can’t win. And so he played really well; just not as well as he did. He was an All-American the year before (but) Kalen was still great for us.”

King’s story isn’t unlike that of the Packers’ Eric Stokes. A first-round pick in 2021, Stokes was worthy of All-Rookie recognition when he ranked No. 1 in the draft class with a 51.0 percent catch rate allowed, No. 1 with 18 forced incompletions and second with a forced-incompletion rate of 18.8 percent, according to PFF.

In 2022, Stokes allowed an 84.0 percent catch rate and didn’t break up a single pass.

No matter a player’s mental toughness, it’s hard to block out the outside questions and self-doubt.

“We had two other corners [DaeQuan Hardy and Johnny Dixon] that had really good years, and you start pressing to make your plays and sometimes that creates this spiral effect of going the wrong direction. We know playing corner is a huge mental game. Sometimes we can get in our own head and get in our own way.”

It wasn’t just the downturn in production that made King the 255th of 257 picks in the draft. The knockout punch was a 4.61 in the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. That’s going to have to improve if he’s going to make it in the NFL, Smith said. If he can, everything else should fall into place.

“He’s a guy that loves football,” Smith said. “When you tell him to be there at 8 to be ready, he’s there at 10 to 8 and he’s ready. He’s always been that way. He’s been driven that way. He’s from Cass Tech, which is a big-time football team in Detroit.

“So, Kalen is an ultimate competitor. He’s physical at the line of scrimmage. He gets his hands on guys. He refuses to lose. He’s a great man-coverage guy. He’s a great zone guy. He plays with good eyes. He tackles well. He’s really a good all-around corner. He can do a lot of things really well.”

When his long draft wait finally came to an end, King seemed to be fighting back tears when he talked to Packers beat reporters on a Zoom call. It was a rollercoaster of emotions – the thrill-of-a-lifetime dream coming true coupled with an excruciating wait. In the moment, it was almost too much to handle, though all of that was behind him when he showed up at rookie camp at week later.

King said he’d enter the NFL with a “permanent chip” on his shoulder. Smith said the same thing.

“It’s a humbling experience that he went through. You don’t know whether to cry or scream,” Smith said.

That’s in the past. Now, it’s time to work.

In a decade at Penn State, Smith has sent a bunch of defensive backs to the NFL. Now that King has made it to the pros, why is he going to turn opportunity into career?

“He’s going to make it because he’s a consistent football player and he loves the game,” Smith said. “One of the challenges we face in today’s game is people want attention, people want social media, people want all the other reasons. This guy loves football and he’s driven to be successful. Now that the draft has taken place, there’s another built-in chip on his shoulder and he’s really motivated to succeed.”

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