The Green Bay Packers ended up with 11 new players in the 2024 NFL Draft. Prior to the draft, many expected general manager Brian Gutekunst to address the cornerback position. After all, Eric Stokes is coming off of two seasons that were shortened by injury and Jaire Alexander had a down year.
Due to various circumstances, 2023 seventh round pick Carrington Valentine was put into a starting role. While a little inconsistent, he ended the year allowing just 57.6% of passes thrown his way to be completed along with a 84.8 passer rating when targeted.
Additionally, Corey Ballentine allowed just 56.3% of passes thrown his way to be completed along with a 81.2 passer rating.
In other words, the cornerbacks played much better than a lot of people give them credit for. For this reason, Gutekunst decided not to pursue the top cornerbacks in the draft, including Iowa’s Cooper DeJean, whom many fans wanted and many analysts mocked to Green Bay.
Green Bay Packers General Manager Took Cornerback Kalen King in the Seventh Round
With their final pick, the third-to-last pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Packers selected Penn State cornerback Kalen King. Had King decided to enter the draft in 2023, he might have been a Day Two pick and considered one of the best cornerbacks in the draft.
His 2022 season at Penn State was phenomenal. He had an 87.2 PFF grade for the season to go with a 49% completion percentage allowed, two interceptions (including a pick six), and nine pass breakups.
However, in 2023, he had a 60.3 PFF grade to go with a 61% completion percentage allowed, no interceptions, and a single pass broken up.
This poor production in 2023 took him from an early-round draft pick to a border-line pick at all. His 2022 season clearly showed that he can be a good player, but his 2023 season left many scouts and general managers about how well his game would translate to the NFL.
And so, with the draft nearly over, Gutekunst decided to take a flyer on King. While questions surrounding his game still remain, there are some who believe that, if 2023 fluke season, Green Bay could have ended up with the steal of the draft.
NFL Writers Think the Green Bay Packers Got the Steal of the 2024 NFL Draft in Kalen King
Of falling so far in the draft, King told reporters (via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky): “I feel like I’ll never forget that feeling. And I feel like that’s only going to make me go harder and keep me going forward.”
Per Demovsky, King’s position coach at Penn State, Terry Smith, said of King:
“Honestly, I think they may have gotten the biggest steal of the draft.
“It’s obviously not where here expected [to be drafted], and it’s humbling. And I think now some sense of reality of this is where people saw you, and this is the reality of the situation, and now you’ve got to go make the best of the situation and play with a chip on your shoulder.”
In other words, King’s falling in the draft has made him hungry, hungry to prove all the other teams wrong. If he can get back to his 2022 form, he is a first-round caliber cornerback at the best and a second or third round cornerback at the worst.
Add that into the rest of the Packers’ cornerback room that played better than people give them credit for, and the pass defense could be very special.
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