Kalen King Video Profile

so on this first play against Michigan in 2022 what we're going to see is he reads this screen immediately and this poor receiver is just done like that there granted you know it's a it's a screen play the defense has everything accounted for um and I just I really like the quickness and the thump that King puts on here this is like when everything goes well in King's game this is what it looks like um as far as covering the Run covering screen plays being an aggressive tackler hello good people Green Bay Packers fans football fans and random internet viewers who are at least a little bit curious about how football is played at the pro and college level my name is Tim Nan I've been a Packers fan for the last 20 years and a fan of scouting college players for the last eight years and today I will be looking at the Packers seventh round draft pick cornerback kayin King out of the universe city of Penn State if you like the video make sure to take a second to hit the like button subscribe to the channel and hit the little bell so that you know the next time I'm on here talking about football at the pro or college level now kayn King is a bit of a curious case as far as draft studies go because he was really highly touted uh in 20 after the 2022 season coming into 2023 it was thought he would be a first round pick maybe a second round pick and through the course of the 2023 season his stock fell and fell fell and fell and we will get into we'll get into why that happened uh but before we do that I want to look at some features of his game so the first area of his game that I want to look at is his man coverage and his ability to play Trail technique I think he is an asset in man coverage um he has uh not the most not the greatest physical gifts in terms of Speed and Agility but he he has a great play speed and uh he puts himself in positions well consistently um he could be more consistent but overall I like where he's at in man coverage and Trail techniqu so we'll look at that the second area that I want to look at is his physicality and aggression um across all parts of his game whether that's in pass coverage or in run support um I think he is a cornerback who you can leave on the field for all three downs and not have to worry about whether or not he can hold up in the Run he definitely can and on those screen plays or just in pursuit in general when chasing down ball carriers he's aggressive he hits hard and he's an effective tack in the third section we will look at some plays that show the the limitations of his length the limitations of his quickness uh and then we will transition into the fourth section of the video which is uh do I think that Kalin King will redeem himself going into this season uh will he will he live back up to that draft stock that he earned for himself a couple years ago uh I'm not sure everything that went into the 2023 season and what went arai for him uh the numbers will look at show that there was a steep drop off um and the film uh shows across the board there were always some areas of his game that needed to be short up and it became really apparent when he became the number one defensive back in 2023 so I'll answer whether or not I think he redeems himself in 2024 and I will also share my draft grade on him compared to other defensive backs in this draft uh as well as where I see him fitting with the Packers so a lot to get into in this video um I won't wait any longer let's get into the first facet of his game which is just his Trail technique and his ability to play Man coverage so this first play against Ohio State in 2023 what we're going to see is he gets physical at the line and then just follows his man out on the route and that is just really solid technique you know gets his hands on his man at the line of scrimmage mirrors him hangs on his shoulder is physical kind of you know shoves him out towards the sidelines and uh this is this is a great way to play this technique you know you want to stay in between the receiver and the quarterback when playing Trail technique he does that he is physical with his assignment which I love I'm all for defensive backs put in hands on receivers uh just a solid rep now against Illinois in 2023 we see him with a different kind of Trail technique here where uh the receiver gets a little bit of space off the line of scrimmage and King just has to Trail using his quickness and Agility here so uh when the receiver uh gets off the line of scrimmage here right you see he creates a lot of space goes towards the sideline and then gets vertical but King just does a good job of hanging with him mirroring him uh and he has the athleticism and quickness just to follow um it it looks almost robotic it's very fluid um this is a great this is a great rep to notice uh his movement the fluid uidity of movement that he has uh and he has he has a lot of reps like this that show you know he's a fluid mover um sometimes he he does not move as fluidly with receivers so I want to see this become an every snap kind of thing but this this kind of rep is the thing that you see a lot in King's game um so just really really like reps like this so what we'll see on this route is uh this receiver breaks up towards the sidelines and uh King hangs with him for that part of the route uh doesn't fully throw on the gas though because I I think he can sense that the receiver is sort of hesitating and waiting waiting to to break the route one way or another um and the receiver breaks back towards the sideline for a comeback route and uh there is a there's a window of time that is uh that's small where King gives up a lot of Separation uh but overall I like this rep because for most of the rep the receiver is covered up there's a split second where the quarterback has to nail the throw um and the quarterback does not nail the throw the receiver receiver gets off the line of scrimmage King mirrors him and there's the Split Second of coverage it's open and the re the quarterback just cannot connect with the receiver there now obviously I would like to see King in a position where this receiver never gets this level of Separation towards the sideline you know this this is an NFL window that uh that gets hit every time at the next level so definitely want to see this get tightened up at the next level but the tools are here for for good trail technique at the NFL level what we see on this rep also is that uh King has fluid and flexible hips to turn when the receiver goes to Sprint and then he can turn his hips back when the receiver moves towards the sideline uh I think King's ability to fluidly move his hips prevents him from uh you know just charging downfield to protect getting beat over the top you know he still has the ability to stay in the area code when the when the receiver changes Direction so uh just really nice fluid hit movement here right turns opens up towards the sideline but he's not quite sprinting downfield and just stays in the area the whole time uh this is not something that you get from every defensive back it's not a guarantee and uh just nice to see this from from a seventh rounder now in both 2022 and 2023 Marvin Harrison Jr gave Kalin King a lot of problems on this rep uh what we see here is uh King just has a nice Trail technique versus a highle receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr he's able to to flip his hips easily he's able to to mirror Harrison Jr I would like to see some physicality off the line here but uh we'll get into some of the limitations of King's game and and it might explain why you know he doesn't use his arms here to extend and uh potentially get beat off the line of scrimmage by Harrison this is a nice rep because he is in Marvin Harrison Jr's hit pocket through the entirety of the route uh and in trail in trail coverage that's that's all you're looking for you're looking for your guy to stay in that hit pocket of the receiver stay between the receiver and the quarterback um so just really really solid rep all around now in 2022 uh Marvin Marvin got the better of King uh on on quite a few plays but um what we see on this one is King plays again pretty solid Trail technique he is between Harrison and the quarterback uh and Harrison stoud just have an unreal connection um the those are both just super highlevel guys at their position this is not the kind of combination of quarterback and receiver that you see every Sunday like these the the level of talent and the the connection that these guys had in 20202 is is rare not just at the college level but at the pro level so uh just I I appreciate kin hanging in there on this rep uh bumps Harrison off the line of scrimmage um and and you know bothers the route a little bit sends him closer to the sideline to give himself some space to work with and you see he is between Harrison and Stroud uh it just is you know this is really good coverage but when Marvin Harrison decides he's going to throw on the brakes there is nobody who can change direction quite like he can um especially just in in the timing of a play you know it's not just that he is quicker faster stronger than everybody although he's quicker faster and stronger than a lot of people people um it's it's his understanding of The Game and his timing to know all right my quarterback's going to want me in this spot here so throw on the brakes there is like a foot maybe a foot of clearance that King gives up here for this reception um and it's just unreal placement by stoud unreal timing by Harrison so honestly this is this is a good rep you know this this force is a really difficult throw uh it's just twoo great players make a great play the second area of King's game that I want to look at is his aggression and physicality in run defense as well as on screens um and just in general as a tackler he is a physical player whether the ball is to his side of the field or not so on this first play against Michigan in 2022 what we're going to see is he reads this screen immediately and this poor receiver is just done like that there granted you know it's a it's it's a screen play the defense has everything accounted for um and I just I really like the quickness and the thump that King puts on here this is like when everything goes well in King's game this is what it looks like um as far as covering the Run covering screen plays being an aggressive tackler um love the finish on this play and King is you know he's 5'11 a buck 95 and that's that's a hard hit for a guy that size you know he's got he's got some strength and power that he's working with that is unusual for a guy his frame um and he makes the most of his his physical gifts in that in that respect against Illinois in 2023 we just see a play come out to his side on a screen and he's just fighting through a blocker here um and that that fight um that that's just what you want to see on a screen play or on a run play uh these kinds of these kinds of run fits or these kinds of Gap assignments that he covers where you know he's he's not giving up any depth against this blocker uh these are the kinds of things uh in my opinion that keep a defensive back on the field for three Downs it what it's what allows guys to gain greater experience we're looking at a first and 10 uh 4 minutes left to go in the four in the first quarter of this game um you know and this is just a high effort play in a in a situation that is not all that high stakes and that that that's just something that I appreciate this bit of run defense against Michigan in 2023 is one of my favorite King uh run plays so the offense here runs a power play they pull one of their big offensive linemen to come across the line and the running back is just there to follow uh the inside is entirely stuffed up so the running back has to bounce outside uh but he can't really bounce outside because King fills the L the Run Lane really well and gets in for a nice assisted tackle so you just see King's vision is in the back field immediately rles down gets a nice tackle at the line of scrimmage maybe the running back gets a yard but then you see boom just that thump and you know granted this hit is not all King there's a there's a linebacker in there but but even still um you know this is a really really nice play um and you can see the moment that the running back re recognizes that he can't bounce outside right King's right there he the running back has to put a foot in the dirt and get up field and King just levels a really nice tackle there this play against Ohio State in 2022 just shows uh nice reactions in addition to the aggression and physicality he puts on display to react to this screen uh this is a third and six uh Manny Diaz the defensive coordinator has thrown the defense out here in this really bizarre look um there's four defensive backs and then everybody else is is on the line of scrimmage so King starts off very far from the line of scrimmage uh and when this screen ends up happening he just throttles down gets into that blocker holds down his run Lane um and just handles this really well is able to is able to get off the block at the end of the play here so if that ball carrier doesn't doesn't get brought down uh King is there to assist so just uh the reactions here the physicality the ability to get off of this block um King puts together a really nice rep here he fits this run well well this screen but it operates like a run is a nice note to end on for the physicality of King because it's not just that he's aggressive he's physical he's a hard hitter even though he is all those things um he is just somebody who consistently reads the offense well um and just wants to contribute like he's he just puts in a lot of effort um consistently and that's something that I think will bode well for his future in the NFL um in the third section of this video what I'm going to be talking about are uh two areas of King's game that I that I see as limited um and they're limited relative to you know where where his projections were a couple years ago so um for a seventh rounder I think King is tremendously gifted I think he's skilled I think he's intelligent um but rating on the curve of a guy who was going to be selected in the first round of the draft or you know there were there were storylines that he was going to be a first round draft pick his athleticism uh in terms of quickness and the length of his arms is just not where where you want to see top level defensive backs at against Marvin Harrison Jr in 2023 we just see a little bit of an issue with his length here in the Reps we've seen it's just his his physicality isn't the most effective even though the the effort is there uh and that's mostly due to his length so on this on this play what we're seeing is he tries to get hands on Junior but when when Marvin Harrison gets into his body it's just there's there's nothing that King can do because his arms are not all that long King uh Marvin Harrison Jr's arms are longer than King's so he can kind of just brush him off here and King cannot keep consistent contact with with Marvin Harrison Jr here with his arms um and that just allows for Marvin to blow by when King is trying to play a more physical more physical coverage here now against uh second tier second tier third tier wide receivers I think King is a pretty solid coverage guy I think he has length to work against those guys against taller slightly longer armed receivers um who have strength that that's a tough combination for King to go up against in this same game against a non Marvin Harrison Jr player he also has a rep that is uh that just does not go the way I would want to see this rep go so at the top of this route he tries to get his hands on the receiver to stun him but unfortunately receiver is just not stunned receiver is able to shake him off like a bad cold gets a lot of Separation nice completion for the offense and um this this is really this is where I start to get concerned about you know how does he stack up against those receivers who he's going to see on every single snap in the NFL um because if his length is an issue against uh just a garden variety you know second third fourth wide receiver from Ohio State where does that land him in the NFL receiver plays this really well um I think King does a good job at the start of the route just to uh backpedal stay square with the receiver but you have to land those hands you have to stun the receiver on that route um and he just doesn't quite get there receiver makes a nice catch and the offense get gets the ball rolling downfield now I have spoken to his physicality um and I I think you know he's aggressive he's physical and he's stronger than you would expect for a guy of his size uh but what I don't want to do is give the impression that he is uh some kind of like hulking hit monster um he he definitely also has limitations to his strength so against a really nice tight end Prospect in Michigan's coulston Loveland uh we just see him get physically dominated and he's he's fighting right like you see this entire time he is in loveland's Jersey he's trying to throw him off um there this is just two dudes going back and forth um and Loveland is just stronger bigger able to manhandle King push him downfield so I don't want to give the impression that King's physicality and aggression um means that he can just go and physically take anybody on um he is he has the effort he has the reactions to make impactful plays when he puts himself in position within the structure of a defense but he is not necessarily a defensive back I think who is going to uh rise above the situation to then elevate a defense I think he he elevates a defense as a contributor um and you know this this physical strength limitation is just one of the reasons why I think that so early on we saw some really solid man coverage some really solid Trail coverage um and I mentioned that there's some times that I want to see him be more consistent so uh one of the plays that really I wish would have gone differently is here against uh Illinois in 20123 so this starts off well you know he's on the receiver's shoulder but then the receiver gets a little bit of Separation at the top of the route and then drives towards the middle of the field and gets a lot of Separation um King misses a tackle this is this is sort of a disaster rep for King I think there are definitely situations where you give up more cushion as a defensive back um you give up the potential for a catch just so you can bring down a receiver and prevent uh a big play like that's just a call that defensive coordinators and defenses make um that does not have to do with the skill level of a defensive back so if that's the case here man you got to make this tackle you got to you at least got to be in there when your teammate helps to bring down the tackle um so just want to see either tighter coverage through through the first part of the route here or come down with the tackle at the after the catch is made and uh last play we'll look at in this section is just uh again a little bit of a limit to his quickness and Agility um so Penn State is playing a style of Defense here sometimes referred to as Birds on a fence um it's this is at the end of the first half so all the defensive backs are lined up just behind the first down marker uh like birds on a fence you know everybody's in a row and they are the idea is you just don't give up anything deep uh so this you know the first part of this where where kaning gives up a reception I don't really have an issue with that they're playing a particular kind of coverage where you're you're almost wanting to give up reception bring down a guy immediately it's they outside of field goal the Ohio State's outside of field goal position the clock's going to continue to run they either have to burn a timeout or eat a lot of clock so uh that's not the problem necessarily the problem is when his man gets this reception he does not have the quickness to make this tackle and this is just one one play where you have to make this tackle you have to be in on the assisted tackle something but uh getting out of position here here when you're able to drive on the ball and read right like he the reaction the reaction time is there the read is there um but the physical quickness is just a little bit limited and his play speed is is often very good but on plays like this uh sometimes he does just he does just get out quicked he gets beaten by speed and quickness and so uh one of those that's not something necessarily that that improves for a defensive back this is just I think a feature a limit to his game in the fourth section of the video I want to talk a little bit about the whole of Kalin King's career and how he came to be at the place he's at uh being a seventh round draft pick for the Packers um do I think he will redeem himself the short answer is yes but how we get there is important so flashback a couple of years ago uh we're entering Penn State's 20122 season um this is the the second year for kaln King at at at Penn State um he's playing alongside Joey Porter Jr the son of Pittsburgh Steelers Legend Joey Porter love that guy um and King has the opportunity to play second fiddle to a really great college defensive back um and it's Manny Diaz's first season as the defensive coordinator of Penn State um Manny Diaz I love him or hate him as a head coach you know if you don't like the turnover chain I get it it's not for everybody uh but Manny Diaz is a hell of a recruiter um and just knows how to motivate and get the most out of his guys so there's a lot of excitement in Penn State in the fall of 2022 Joey Porter goes out has a great 2022 Kalin King comes out and has maybe even a better year than Joey Porter Jr like looking at the numbers King had 18 passes defensed three interceptions just an electric second season for any defensive back and the buzz around him was intense going into 2023 um there he was a consensus first round pick going into 2023 it was pretty it was a pretty safe bet everybody from you know Sports Illustrated to Bleacher Report to Pro Football Focus had him going somewhere between 10 and 20 in the draft like he was firmly one of the draft Darlings going into last year and then throughout the season he just could not replicate that production and that raised a lot of questions now looking at the film I think um what we've looked at here there's not a stark difference between the player we see in the Clips in 2022 and the player we see in 2023 um and I think this speaks to something that is um prevalent at a few positions um but it's just the idea that production comes in bunches so Kalin King had this awesome awesome season in 2022 he had all these passes defensed he had a handful of interceptions and it did not go that way in 2023 and I think part of that's because he has areas to improve in I I think he has areas to grow in and I don't want to say he was never a firstr pick but looking at the play from year to year there was there there may have been a a drop off in 2023 but really the drop off is in how many times he got his hand on a football because we see Clips here where he's in position um and there are there's no ball thrown his way we've seen Clips here where he's out of position and there's an incomplete pass so um you know at the at the defensive back position production can come in bunches this happens with with Edge rushers you know there's if you're looking for sacks uh Aiden Hutchinson had made this point at a camp a few weeks ago if you're looking for sacks man you just have to trust the process if you're looking for those hits behind the line of scrimmage whether it's sacks or tackles for loss you just have to stay consistent you have to stay on your on your physical regimen you have to consistently uh be on top of your Technique those sacks those tackles for loss they will come but it's it's going to come in bunches that production is is sort of random um but what's not random what is what is able to be replicated is the impact you have on a game and I think the impact that Kalin King has on a game consistently is he has the skill set to handle second and third tier receivers well he also has the ability to uh go in and at least go toe-to-toe with a team's best receiver as we saw against Marvin Harrison Jr a couple of times um you know he can get beat by those top tier guys but he is going to be in there um he's not just going to go out there and embarrass himself so he is an asset for any team to have and we're just going to look at a few more plays uh to see the the whole picture of his game sort of In Sum so against Michigan in 2023 we just see him uh handle coverage really well in a quarter quarter half coverage situation um he's running sort of a a man a man assignment down here and he just stays on this receiver's shoulder well he uh really fluidly turns his hips down the field he's able to stay step for step and stride with this receiver on a vertical route um and this I think is the kind of thing that you can expect on Sundays from him against those second and third tier receivers now I went on for length about his aggression and physicality uh what we see here is that gets the better of him against Illinois in 2023 so he's got his eyes in the back field and he is ready to Throttle Down on this screen it's a fake bubble screen this receiver leaks out uh creates a big catch um and so on this play all I want to see is King just stay home a little bit don't don't throttle down there right as soon as he takes that step the quarterback is ready to bomb this ball downfield um and the defense gives up a big play here a little bit later in the game we see King on an island here at the bottom of the screen and uh he watches this second receiver on the seam route but leaves enough cushion for the man in front of him so that he can he can react to either this receiver moving down the field or the receiver directly in front of him um who he ends up responding really well to comes down with a nice tackle offense is limited to a four or five yard gain just really solid play nice reactions um and what I'm looking at there is just the the difference between that aggression on the first play where he got a little bit too trigger happy and then a little bit later in the game recognizing that showing restraint but still making a good read quick reaction to make a solid tackle against Ohio State in 2023 we just see a very similar play keeps everything in front of him makes a nice tackle on his man here um and this I think is really what it looks like for him in the NFL just paying attention to what's what's going on in front of him not trying to make a highlight reel play and just bringing down his assignment so against Ohio State here in 2023 they're we're looking at a second and N um the offense comes out with one one tight end one running back three wide receivers um and the tight end is on the line of scrimmage running backs in the back field three wide receivers are split out left to the wide half of the field um nothing here is surprising for a defense this is a look that you should expect And yet when the offense is just about set there are two defensive backs for three wide receivers uh they are still communicating on defense about whose assignment is what uh and they're rotating over to those assignments as the ball is snapped so this this is one of those things where you know if one guy is off it's probably on that one guy but if all of these guys are off that's when I start to look at coaching so um you know the whole time King is locked in on Marvin Harrison Jr he's like guys you do whatever you got to do I'm making sure that this guy is I'm making sure that this guy is accounted for um and Harrison you know makes a nice play gets good separation um but for this for this situation where you know King is communicating rotating uh almost goes out to that far wide receiver then comes back to to cover Harrison um and just has to stay in the area code I like this you know this is this is something that you know if you if you have a guy who is calm cool and collect uh in the midst of chaos and still is able to do his job you know obviously you'd love to see tighter coverage you'd love to see a pass break up here um but there's a little bit of chaos going on he communicates he does his he does his job on this play um and that's really that's all I'm looking for out of a guy that you're picking up in the seventh round and closing out here we'll just end with a play with a little bit of thump King rolls down on this receiver boom you know if you run a screen against kin King if you are a receiver who is blocking against kayin King watch out man he's going to hit you um and even gets in there for a nice assisted tackle uh just solid read solid hit on the blocker way to keep your eyes up assist on this tackle just really cool play to to finish out and just round out that point that again kin King is a guy you can put out on the field for three Downs at time so all in all do I think Kalin King redeems himself this year absolutely I think he finds his way onto the 53-man roster um I think uh the Packers will go into this season with one more defensive back than they had last year uh there are some some notable cuts at defensive back um in particular uh Benny sap Robert Rochelle and Evan Williams the rookie Evan Williams um all three of those guys I think will probably hang around the team in some form or fashion maybe Rochelle or sap gets picked up from waivers by someone else uh but Evan Williams I think they're they're probably going to want to hold on to him just as a as a rotational guy just to see what they have with his youth but the talent that King has the level of competition that he's played against um the ability the ability he's shown to be resilient and hang in there even when things aren't going his way um I think he just fits with the team I think there's a lot of players on the Packers roster who fit that mold and that seems to be sort of the the personal ity type they're going for and then not to mention he is just he is pretty physically gifted you know he's not he is not one of those athletes that jumps off the screen at you but you know when you look at his athletic profile the numbers are not all that impressive uh but when you watch him play and you see what he what he brings to a defense um he brings physicality he brings communication he uh brings an ability to just go toe-to-toe with anybody that you throw at him um and he's going to take those punches and he's going to keep rolling part of the reason I'm sure he's going to redeem himself is uh going from the level of success and production that he had in 2022 to then having doubt and and honestly failure and challenges and adversity hit you day after day in 2023 uh seeing those things hit him every day in 2023 uh I think getting his butt kicked for a year is just something that he's not going to want to relive if you've ever been in that situation where things were going well maybe a few things slipped here and there suddenly things weren't going well you find yourself eager to get back to that position where where things are going well where you get back to a level of stability or uh success or whatever you want to call it uh and I I think I from what I've seen in kin King's game there wasn't a huge drop off in the level of play uh there may have been some consistency that needed to be shored up but I I think I I think he'll bring it this year and I think he's going to bring a lot of intensity and effort to camp and given uh the level of talent that he has shown he can stay on the field against I I just don't think the Packers necessarily have a guy who can compete with that I think he will beat out Benny sap uh Evan Williams and Robert Rosell for that last DB spot I think they they rock into this season with 10 DBS whereas last year they went in with nine um but really they went in with 10 last year because Eric Stokes was was not on the roster he was just injured and so the Packers were ready to cut a roster spot at any point to to give that to Eric Stokes so really last year they were sort of coming in with 10 DBS um all that to say I think this is this is the last defensive back brought on to the roster and I I am really excited to see what he brings to this team and I'm just really excited to see you know how he how he works to redeem himself and build back that reputation as a top defensive back in football um and uh just for context uh this is this is where I graded him out this year um as far as where he Stacks up to other defensive backs and safeties uh you'll notice not every defensive back is on here you know quinan Mitchell Cooper Dee uh Nate Wiggins did not get around to charting and Grading those guys this year um from what I saw I think all three of them are great I think all three of them are probably in a space between Javon Bullard Kool-Aid mckinstry probably better um I think you know quinan Mitchell probably one of the top corners if not the top Corner in this draft um so uh overall what I see King being is uh a developmental player with really good gifts to start with um could maybe develop into a number one corner if he Shores up his technical consistency um but I think at worst he is a nickel or dime Corner who you can keep on the roster for as long as he wants to play football I think looking at how he Stacks up here um I do think the gap between him and Evan Williams is is a little bigger than that number would indicate I think uh kin King is closer to that Cameron kitens Tyler nuban uh second tier of defensive backs in this draft class uh it just you know that is based more off of the body of work before 2023 than than what we saw in 2023 but even still with what we saw last year he's got things to work with so uh I think I think the Packers uh did really did really well to to take a flyer on him in the seventh round and I think it's a move that is lowrisk high reward and will positively impact this team this year uh and in years to come so uh if you like the video make sure to take a second to hit the like button subscribe to the channel uh hit the little bell so that you know the next time I'm on here talking about football at the pro and college level peace [Music]