Kalen King is motivated, inspired, spurred perhaps like never before.
And that can only be a good thing for the Green Bay Packers.
Many considered King — a cornerback from Penn State — a player who would go in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft when the 2023 college football season began. Instead, King had a rough year and plummeted down draft boards before the Packers selected him in the seventh round Saturday.
Now, King comes to Green Bay eager to prove a lot of people wrong.
“It’s extremely motivating,” King said immediately after he was drafted. “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%.”
King (5-11, 191) was a second-team All-American during his sophomore season in 2022 when he had 18 pass breakups and three interceptions. He led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally in passes defensed (21) and was named first-team all-Big Ten by Pro Football Focus.
King was named first-team preseason All-American last fall by the Associated Press, Sporting News and PFF. But he didn’t come close to playing at that level.
King finished 2023 with no interceptions and just two pass breakups despite the fact teams had no issues with throwing in his direction.
“It’s hard to say why certain guys fall during the process,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said of King. “It happens every year. Sometimes it’s testing, sometimes it’s medicals, sometimes it’s other things.
“In his particular case, I can’t really tell you other than the fact that we’re glad that he did. We’re glad we were able to select him where we did, and hopefully, this year will prove that he should have been drafted a lot higher than he did. But can’t really pinpoint that one.”
King ran the 40-yard dash in a mediocre 4.61 seconds. He did rank ninth, though, among all cornerbacks at the NFL Combine in production score and 14th in total score.
King’s draft experience was painful. Waiting to be selected until pick No. 255 was brutal.
If King can channel that energy to the playing field, though, both he and the Packers could be big winners in the end.
“I feel like this experience that I got these past three days was nothing but a humbling experience for me,” King said. “I’m just going to use it to add fuel to the fire because there have been a lot of doubters in my ear and a lot of doubters on me for the past couple months and it’s always going to be those. I’m not too worried about those people. I know what I’m capable of and I’m ready to show the world I can do so.”