Kevin King has a lot to prove going into this 2021 season. His mediocre performance last season along with injury has put the spotlight on him since his off-season one-year deal with the team.
King attended college football at Washington, playing safety and cornerback, earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention twice. Following four seasons at Washington, King attended the NFL Scouting Combine and impressed — coming out of the process as a projected first or second round pick. King was selected by the Packers in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft and was fourth on the depth chart to begin his rookie year. Since then, his name has become more relevant in the media and in sports betting, such as bet-fl.com
After Devon House went down with a quad injury early in the 2017 season, King made his first career start. King dealt with several injuries his rookie season, including a concussion, and shoulder injury. He finished the season with 28 tackles in nine games. The injury bug plagued King in 2018 as well, missing weeks three and four with a groin injury, weeks nine through 12 with a hamstring injury and was on injured reserve the final four weeks of the season. King had 14 tackles and one interception in only six games.
King rebounded in 2019, stayed healthy and played in 15 regular season games. He came up big with an interception in the end zone in the game against the Vikings and also picked off Dak Prescott in a win against the Cowboys three weeks later. King had 65 tackles and five interceptions for the season and six tackles in two post season games.
Last season, King missed five games but was effective in the other 11 games that he played and started, recording 56 tackles. In two playoff games, King had 12 tackles, but was torched in coverage against the Buccaneers, allowing two touchdown passes. In addition, he was called for a pass interference penalty last in the game that kept a Tampa Bay drive alive.
Despite the poor playoff performance, King was deemed valuable enough by the Packers to sign him to a 1-year deal for $6 million on March 26, 2021. Although King hadn’t practiced so far in camp until today(due to a non-football injury), he is listed as the starter at cornerback according to a recently released unofficial depth chart. It appears that first-round pick Eric Stokes, who is listed at the backup, is right on King’s heels. Should King fail to improve over last season, it will be more a matter of when and not if, Stokes takes over as the starter.
Welcome to #Packers Public Practice No. 🙌🤙
Kevin King is off NFI and practicing today pic.twitter.com/Fs3GqOWJkf
— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) August 12, 2021