Packers Rookie Forecast - Kalen King

[Music] what is up Packers fans and welcome back to another episode of The Daily draft brought to you by the good folks right here at Badger State Brewing I am your host Ross uglum the publisher of pack report and I am so very excited today because today it is kin King day um you know one of my favorite picks we were talking about um you know value right and uh actually almost as crazy as it sounds although it shouldn't because I had him as a top 90 player and I felt like the Packers you know had a need um at his position um I almost had a daily draft uh uh Prospect primer on him right because I had a top 100 grade on them we were talking about players you know um in the top uh 91 where the Packers had five picks but then you know we we also talked about um or I had had been discussing cornerback as as a need in round one um so we basically broke down all of the round one um corners and we didn't want to have it so Corner heavy have it being like the prospect primary schedule so we ended up really focusing fusing on you know the guys in the top 45 uh and that's how kin didn't end up with uh with a an episode so um real quick on on Kaylin King because because you know some of this stuff has kind of been done to death um you know day two guy probably early day two guy maybe late day one guy lot of way too early first round mocks with him had an awesome season um in 2022 playing crft from Joey Porter Jr you see some I'll just call them like lies out there some really amateur like scouting um where folks say oh WR runs like no Penn State didn't play that way go watch the film you don't want to watch the film go go look at the PFF stats go look at when Keon colan was at Michigan State how many times um kin King was was covered or was targeted uh when um Marvin Harrison Junior played against Penn State in 2022 not in 2023 uh go look at the way that he was was you know targeted against Joey Porter Jr and then against Kaylin king um they they get largely played like left and right or occasionally like field and Boundary uh just joy joy Porter Jr was not following number one receivers in in 2022 it just wasn't happening uh so this myth that you know the the the armchair quarterback and I'm sure it's from like big 10 fans that don't like Penn State like Badger fans or Michigan fans or what like I don't know but um this was not look he didn't play well I'm not defending Kaylin King's 2023 tape or his pre-draft process that is all why he ended up in the seventh round none of it was good but this idea that he was just exposed because um he didn't have to cover anybody in 2022 when he was an All-American is is BS it's not true it can be easily disproven by going back and watching the tape it can be easily disproven by looking at basic player participation data in PFF College it's literally as simple as how often was he lined up against this player and you just go through you know like I said I off the Dome I named and and went researched Marvin Harrison Jr went and res researched Keon Coleman and he has posted clips of Jaden Reed versus kin King also Michigan State um but you know you could go look at a number of of of folks right a number of number one receivers in in the Big 10 that maybe didn't make it to the league or at least hadn't been a big deal in the league like a Keon Coleman like a Marvin Harris Jr but that's it's it's just not the case now um with that said like fully willing to admit that there is a reason now I still gave him a third round grade because I had a you know going into it um in kind of on my preliminary list he was like a 45th overall guy for me 48th 51st overall and just kept sliding just kept sliding um but for me it's so much about the tape right I get accused a lot and and this stuff is important to me right there are some limitations that I'm going to talk about with kayin King that I don't know if they're fixable or I don't know if they are um I I think that're where you can use him or how you can use him changes a little bit because of some of these limitations and look um you know there are are slow Corners that have worked out Richard Sherman Josh Norman that it works you you can get it to work but uh a lot of those guys are big a lot of those those guys are super physical and I don't you know if you go by you what he ran at his prod day he doesn't really have a disqualifying time in the 40 just doesn't have what you'd like to see um but there are a number of very real factors that are the reason that he fell to round seven there are also a number of real factors that are the reason that he in my opinion should have been a third round pick and you know was regarded as one of the bigger value picks of the draft based on consensus and then to where um he was taken and uh one of my you know top top picks of all time for them in fact he was he is um in the last four drafts they picked him 171 spots after where I had him ranked that's T1 because they actually happened to pick uh Michael Pratt 171 spots after where I had him ranked uh rounding out that list just in case you're curious is uh Rasheed Walker 156 picks after I had him ranked Kingsley andari 124 picks after I had him ranked and Carl books Brooks 113 picks after I had him ranked Sheed Kingsley and Carl Brooks or JJ and abbar have made me look extremely smart will kin King and to a different sort of extent Michael Pratt do the same not 100% sure um with all that said and and I do mean all that said uh I looking forward I guess looking forward I I think you can kind of take an I don't even I don't even know if this is fair because like I said it's not a disqualifying time but but all along the process I thought he's a nickel he's a nickel he's a nickel he's a nickel um Casey Hayward was somebody that that came to mind watching him play um I also said that for Kamari lter out of Georgia um it's just because I'm a Packers guy but everything that he doesn't do well so if you look at um you know his his uh numbers here Mr uh Mr kin King you look at his this is great radio great podcasting um 668 on the r not not tragic um will definitely be in the sevens again like he ran a 453 4 five something um at his pro day now again you have to sort of adjust that but 461 at the combine 4 five let's say he's a 4 five guy you know he's going to have that seven R not Elite by any stretch but not going to get you killed um good size actually their size he's he's above 191 or he's above 190 um really good size for a corner at 5'11 and a quarter uh not too tall not too short should be really versatile um short shuttle was fine vert was fine broad was fine this was all fine he just didn't run super well and I just think in general he didn't have like a great pre-draft process I don't think he had very good advice uh whatever it doesn't matter but then I go into like what he does well and just what what I think of him as a football player his ball skills his playmaking ability and I know that wasn't there in 2023 but my God in heaven it was there in 2022 his physicality guys he hits man he hits and he tackles I want to look um real quick at his PFF stuff because I'd love to know um and with corner it's always a little bit interesting um but I'd love to know um like his tackling numbers because he is physical as hell and a lot of times especially guys that have success early in their career um get kind of the Dion mentality where I'm I'm I'm I'm getting paid to cover I'm not getting paid to hit but uh and okay so so it's more of a stuff that I like on tape than a number thing CU he's he's right there at 15% Miss tackles Which is higher than you'd like to see it's nothing tragic it really isn't he was 14% missed tackles in 2022 it's all fine um but man you look at these 2022 numbers uh and and look the Packers have made hay here tremendous hay I've gone you know over over and over and over again uh Davon Wicks much better the previous year coming out Jordan love much better the previous year Jaden Reed much better the previous year Luke Musgrave and Tucker craft both had both both had more yards their second to last year of college than their last year of school um the Packers have done a ton of of this like using their entire college careers as the body of work not just the one season the most recent season now it's the most recent thing it's the most important whatever but um man you look at at kin King in 2022 allowing 45 % this is a the NFL's a 65% completion League or a 61 or 2% completion League allowing 45% of the passes into his coverage to be completed um surrendering one touchdown in the last two years nine passes broken up and three picks with a quarterback rating in 2022 against of 48.9 again this is a these guys are like the average I think NFL QB rating is in the high 80s this guy was incredible and I think if you project him forward as someone who's going to make this team and I think he is even you know seventh round pick nothing is guaranteed but as someone who's G to make this team what would I do you kayin king would be a starting nickel now I don't think there's anything that kesan Nixon did defensively last year that would tell me that he's going to be a better option than kin King at nickel tomorrow and I'd prefer Kalin King to get those reps they're not going to do this I I would be blown away in fact unfortunately I think Javon buard might have the second look at at at slot reps even before kin King but this is where kin King started in Camp halfly likes him there's so much to like here guys he's a good enough athlete if you start taking away you know like the things that I said the instincts willingness to hit I wish that Miss tackle percentage was lower but the willingness to hit is awesome um I just guys I I really like him and he is so good playing the ball he is so good at the catch point he understands route Concepts so well that I think a move inside is is only going to help him um and then again if the 4 five speed and look he didn't play well in 2023 there's all sorts of problems on the tape in 2023 but if you're projecting forward and you're thinking we can find the 2022 player keep in mind guys this is a true freshman in 2021 that came out early he's 21 he turned 21 in January this is a kid probably should have gone back to Penn State probably would have been drafted round three or four depending on the type of season that he would have but um I think he got so excited after being an All-American as a true sophomore that he probably felt it was time to come out and and I understand that fully I really do I think the Packers might have got something here I think he's a 10year nickel in the league and the odds are that I'm dead ass wrong because that is not what you find in the seventh round the NFL is is not necessarily great at at picking who you know is going to be at the at the top you know like there there are a lot of busts they're pretty good at at these guys that have these freef Falls that you don't really understand most of them don't work out I think kayin King bucks the trend or I wouldn't have ranked him where I ranked him I'm really really excited about him I think he tackles well enough I think he's physical enough and everything else that I want from a nickel he's got it he's not blazing fast like Kean Nixon but that's not what you need from a nickel you need toughness you need instincts you need playmaking ability this kid has it in Spades in Spades and now he's got a massive chip on his shoulder I'm so excited about Kalin King I hope he gets a real opportunity again like there's I think I said this during the Bullard video there's a way that you can look at what the Packers did and really think they don't think very much of kesan Nixon they've said they like him have has said he likes him on defense they paid the man more than you would pay a kick returner certainly but man um they hammered his position Evan Williams can play there Javon Bullard can play there kin King they started there they hammered that position now I I won't even say now they they use a seven a second a fourth and a seventh round pick on guys who can play there I hope he gets this chance all right guys thank you so much for watching or listening if you're on the podcast side um hope you like my pack report merch hopefully Andy's thrown the link down there for you to check it out we really appreciate that it's a great way to help us out uh other than that join us at Packer report become a VIP um you can follow me on X formerly known as Twitter I am Ross uglam check us out at Pacer report 66 shout out to our founder this guy right here Ray nitki um might have heard of him and do everything you're supposed to do here on the pack aay podcast YouTube channel like subscribe click the Bell to get the notifications so that you can get all the Packers content that you require on a daily basis have a great day guys go pack go