KP #21

Karon Prunty

Cornerback · Wake Forest

A well-traveled corner who started at four different colleges, Karon Prunty finished as a third-team All-ACC pick at Wake Forest before New England drafted him in round five.

Karon Prunty's college journey ran through Kansas, South Carolina, North Carolina A&T and finally Wake Forest, a six-year odyssey that ended with a strong senior season and an NFL opportunity. The Patriots drafted him in the fifth round of the 2026 draft to compete for a rotational cornerback role.

★ True freshman All-American at Kansas (2020)

★ First-team All-Big South at NC A&T (2022)

★ Third-team All-ACC at Wake Forest (2025)

★ Drafted 171st overall by New England in 2026

Path to the league

A three-star recruit out of I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, Prunty began his college career at Kansas, where he earned true freshman All-American honors in 2020 after leading the nation's true freshmen with 26 tackles and 10 pass breakups. He redshirted in 2021, transferred through South Carolina and North Carolina A&T, and landed at Wake Forest for his final season in 2025. New England selected him in the fifth round, 171st overall, in the 2026 NFL draft.

Career highlights

At North Carolina A&T, Prunty posted 30 tackles and four interceptions in 2022 to earn first-team All-Big South honors, then added 43 tackles and five pass breakups in 2023 and a third-team All-CAA nod in 2024. He wrapped his college career at Wake Forest in 2025 with 23 tackles, eight pass breakups and an interception, earning third-team All-ACC recognition. Pro Football Focus rated him among the best coverage corners in the country that season.

2025 season recap

In his lone season at Wake Forest, Prunty played all 13 games and allowed a catch rate of just 44.4%, a number that graded him as PFF's 12th-best cornerback in coverage nationally. He finished with 40 total tackles, eight pass breakups, an interception, a forced fumble and a sack on one of the ACC's best defenses. That performance pushed him into the fifth round of the 2026 draft, where New England will ask him to compete behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis.