A once first-round-caliber Penn State cornerback whose stock slid to the seventh round before he found his footing after stops in Green Bay and Carolina.
Kalen King looked like a potential first-round pick after a breakout 2022 season at Penn State, but a quieter junior year dropped him to Day 3 of the 2024 draft. After a rocky first two pro seasons with the Packers and Panthers, he has landed with the Cardinals as he tries to prove his early promise was real.
Path to the league
King started at cornerback for Penn State from 2021 to 2023 after arriving as a highly regarded recruit. The Green Bay Packers selected him in the seventh round, 255th overall, of the 2024 NFL Draft following a draft process in which his stock cooled from earlier first-round buzz.
Career highlights
King broke out as a sophomore in 2022, a season that established him as one of the top cornerback prospects in the country and earned him Third Team All-Big Ten honors. He followed that with a Second Team All-Big Ten season in 2023, recording multiple pass breakups and forced fumbles across his three years as a starter.
2025 season recap
King was released by Green Bay in final roster cuts and signed with the Carolina Panthers' practice squad in August 2025, earning a brief promotion to Carolina's active roster in late November. The Cardinals signed him off Carolina's practice squad on December 23, 2025, and he appeared in one game for Arizona to close out the year.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Kalen King
- State College: Penn State Football: Kalen King Drafted by Packers in Seventh Round
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Cornerback
- Group
- defense
- College
- Penn State
- Hometown
- Detroit, MI, USA
- Age
- 23
- Status
- active
