An in depth and complete scouting report and draft prospect profile of Penn State Safety Kalen King for the NFL Draft.

Prospect: Kalen King

School: Penn State

Age: 21

Kalen King Measurables:

• Height: 5’11” (NFL Combine)
• Weight: 191 (NFL Combine)

• 40: 4.61 (NFL Combine)
• 10 Yard Split: 1.54 (NFL Combine)
• Vertical Jump: 37” (NFL Combine)
• Broad Jump: 10’2” (NFL Combine)
• 20 Yard Shuttle: 4.16 (NFL Combine)
• Other Notes:
  • Holy hell, 4.61 for Kalen King. His fall from the graces continue
  • King’s line drill rep didn’t look bad
  • Kalen King footwork looks much improved compared to tape

Tape Watched: 2022: Ohio State; 2023: Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan

Prospect Grade: 45% with upside

Projected Draft Day: Rounds 5-7

Player Comparison: Julian Love

Kalen King Player Summary:

The  Positives

• Reads screens really well: comes screaming downhill
• Tackles well… for the most part
• Aggressive against blockers

The Negatives

• Picked apart by Marvin Harrison Jr.(But who didn’t?)
  • King was asked to shadow Harrison most of the game in 2023, and the results weren’t good. Harrison got the best of him for the second straight year.  
• 2023 Ohio State film as a whole may be the worst CB tape we’ve ever watched
• Actually getting off blocks needs work
• Zone drops are “wonky” sometimes
• When playing outside, when dropping into deep zone he can lose track of the outermost receiver running out routes/things that cross face(post/wheel)
  • Looks like he drifts inside, that’s why he loses stuff outside
• When tackling high and hitting low without wrapping, he’s pretty ineffective
• Footwork needs coaching
  • Doesn’t have the feet to mirror and match
  • Gets caught flat footed at times
  • Good route runners are going to give him fits. Okay route runners gave him some problems

Kalen King fell from the graces, good gosh. When we watched his 2022 film back in the summer we had a Day 1 grade on him, and felt good about him as a prospect with the exception of his tape against Marvin Harrison(which isn’t uncommon for CBs). When we turned on the 2023 tape, the only thing that remained a positive was his aggressiveness coming down hill, and tackling(for the most part). The only man that could save his career is Wink Martindale, who’s known to be able to hide his CBs weaknesses.

Updated 3/21/24: Okay, so upon a quick rescout. King is about as rough as we thought he was last time. Upon months of thought and consideration we truly believe he’s going to have to move to safety. He’ll get cooked in the NFL as a CB. You can already see that safety mentality in the way that he comes screaming down hill and his aggression. We don’t put too much stock into athletic testing, but if you look at King’s 4.61 40, that’s pretty eye-raising in a bad way for corners, but not that bad for safeties. We like the Julian Love comp because we feel he could take a similar career path: get converted to safety, develop and learn the position, start a few games here and there, but build a role for himself, and then in a few years become a full starter and be an extremely solid football player. In the early years though, expect him to be a ST Ace. 

Updated 3/21/24

• Combine numbers and rank added to measurable portion of profile
• Grade switched from “43%” to “ 45% with upside”
• Projection switched from “Day 3” to “Rounds 5-7”
• Comp switched from “Andrew Booth” to “Julian Love”