The Green Bay Packers have been building their foundation through the NFL Draft over the years. Green Bay has a very young football team and they hope to have their Super Bowl window open for a while. The Packers took strides a season ago offensively, but they will look to make massive improvements this season.
Green Bay had weaknesses in the secondary a season ago, but they made some improvements in the offseason. The Green Bay Packers signed safety Xavier McKinney and also drafted safety Javon Bullard from Georgia in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Green Bay in the secondary will need to have Eric Stokes and Jaire Alexander healthy at the cornerback position this season. Strokes has been riddled with injuries and Alexander missed several games last season for the Packers.
Penn State Nittany Lions assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith Talks About Kalen King Being a Seventh-Round Selection By the Green Bay Packers
The Packers selected cornerback Kalen King from Penn State in the seventh round (255th overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft. It was the only cornerback they drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft. There were other times that the Green Bay Packers should have drafted a cornerback in the draft, but they took one with that selection instead.
Penn State Nittany Lions assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith spoke about cornerback Kalen King being a seventh-round selection. At one point, King was an All-American and a potential first-round selection at one point in his college career. Smith said to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated:
“It’s a good question. 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.”
King in 12 games with the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2023 had 29 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two pass deflections. He had 18 pass deflections in 13 games played in 2022 for Penn State.
Smith also added about Kalen King:
“He’s a guy that loves football. 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.”
This could be a potential steal for Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, and Corey Ballentine are some of the other cornerbacks on the roster who are ahead of Kalen King on the depth chart. King will be a player to watch for on defense for the Green Bay Packers come training camp. It might be a long shot for him to be a starter, but it may not be a long shot for him to make the 53-man roster.
