Kevin King has been fighting an uphill battle ever since the Packers traded out of the first round and took him as their first pick in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Many fans wanted the Packers to take Wisconsin linebacker TJ Watt. Watt, after all, is a native of Wisconsin. To make it harder on King, Watt has evolved into one of the best defensive players in the NFL. According to King in his press conference today, he will soon be joining Watt atop the NFL’s list of best defenders.
Kevin King: "I'm gonna be one of the top players in this league and nobody can take that from me."
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 24, 2021
Kevin King in Green Bay
For the first two seasons of Kevin King’s NFL career, he struggled to stay on the field. In 2017, he was limited to just nine games due to a shoulder injury. The next season, he played just six games. 2018 saw King miss time first with a groin injury, and then with a bad hamstring.
In 2019, King stayed relatively healthy and had the best season of his career. He played in 15 games, tallied five interceptions, deflected 15 passes, and forced a fumble. Last season, however, King missed time with a back injury and was infamously torched in the NFC Title game.
Last season, according to advanced stats, was King’s worst season as a defender. After holding opposing quarterbacks below 59% completion against him in 2018 and 2019, he allowed 63.2% of passes to be completed last season. Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 96.2 when targeting King, the highest he has allowed in his career. Furthermore, King had a missed tackling percentage of 17.4%, which was just 0.1% better than his 2019 season.
To the surprise of many fans, the Packers decided to bring back the oft-injured King on a one-year prove it deal worth $5 million.
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Kevin King Came to Camp Injured
The Packers drafted cornerback Eric Stokes in the first round of the NFL Draft. Many fans believe that he will be able to supplant King as the Packers’ second starting cornerback opposite of Jaire Alexander. King certainly did not instill any confidence in their eyes when he reported to camp injured.
Kevin King’s Press Conference
Kevin King was able to return to practice last week. While there are not many reports out about the quality of his play, it has been reported that Stokes has continued to take many reps with the starters. That, however, has not dampened King’s confidence in himself. As mentioned previously, he believes that he will become one of the best defenders in the NFL.
On the Packers’ drafting Eric Stokes, King had the following to say:
if [eric stokes] can beat me out, then they drafted the right guy,” says kevin king just now. really feels like the packers’ drafting of stokes infused an element of competition — more so than normal — in that room and king’s using it as fuel; competition breeds excellence
— zach jacobson (@zacobson) August 24, 2021
On the NFC Championship game:
Great answer from Kevin King on wanting to finish what he started in Green Bay, even after last years NFCCG pic.twitter.com/5ZrFQfUSOa
— Poor Man’s Packers Podcast (@PMPPod) August 24, 2021
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