The curious, bizarre, sad case of King's plummeting stock

ALTOONA, Pa. -- All it takes is for one team to like you. Just convince one team you can really help them, and you can be drafted much higher than expected.

Maybe there's a team out there that really likes Kalen King. Some team or scout that saw something in him that no one else saw, and then was able to overlook the mountain of questions.

It would be awesome for King if that were to happen, because it could mean a glimmer of hope to be selected in the third or fourth round of this weekend's NFL Draft.

Short of that, however, the Penn State cornerback is going to be waiting a long time to hear his name called, possibly even into the sixth round.

This could be a very rich, deep and productive draft for Penn State, with as many as 10 players potentially getting selected, including two in the first round: sure-fire guy Olu Fashanu (LT) and possible tail-end pick Chop Robinson (DE).

Adisa Isaac (DE), Theo Johnson (TE), Hunter Nourzad (OL), Caedan Wallace (OL), Curtis Jacobs (LB), Johnny Dixon (CB) and Daequan Hardy (CB) are all expected to be selected.

About seven months ago, King's name was among the leaders in that group, as many were projecting him to be a potential first-round pick.

And now? King was picked to go all the way down in the sixth round of ESPN's latest mock draft. He's slotted for the fifth round by Pro Football Focus.

On various big boards of draft prospects, King falls anywhere from the 140 range all the way to the 240 range.

Again, let me repeat, all it takes is for one team to like him. And there is a lot to like about King, who had a fantastic 2022 season for Penn State.

But then came his highly disappointing 2023 season, lowlighted by a really rough day trying to guard Marvin Harrison Jr. at Ohio State. Just watch these plays below, and Harrison easily beat King repeatedly to get open.

That was the day many people began questioning if King really was worthy of all the hype he'd been getting.

Then came King's disastrous lead up to the draft, from his Senior Bowl struggles, to poor Combine results and bad worth of mouth. Below is just one rep from Senior Bowl workouts, but it represented just how badly King was beaten by receivers (including North Carolina's Tez Walker here).

OK, so what happened to King? How did he drop off so badly? Was he ever really all that good in the first place, or was he just cherry picking because teams wouldn't throw at Joey Porter Jr. in 2022?

And, most importantly, why on earth did King decide to turn pro early? What kind of advice was he getting? Who was in his ear telling him to take the risk and hope for a high draft grade? Also, did he do anywhere near enough preparation work for the Senior Bowl and Combine, two gigantic job interviews that he seemed very ill prepared for?

None of us have any of these answers. Only King knows what kind of work he put into the 2023 season and then the pre-draft stuff. For all we know, he just bought into all the hype and coasted through what he had already determined would be his final year of college.

Maybe King will get drafted by the right team and be a good fit there. Maybe he can use all the pre-draft slights as motivation to prove to everybody that he should have been selected in the early rounds.

Or, maybe King will end up being a major cautionary tale of how a player cannot just rest on a reputation and turn pro even when it looks like a bad idea.

OLU'S SURPRISING FALL

There was a time when Fashanu was considered a potential top-five pick. But now, he's looked at more in the 13-15 range.

That's still solidly in the first round and a very good draft slot. But it does make you wonder why he has dropped a bit.

Look, I am by no means a great believer in Pro Football Focus, because they put out a lot of nonsense. But the site did have some good analysis about Olu in this piece.

"Fashanu isn’t a perfect tackle prospect. In fact, he has a significant weakness in run blocking. 2023 was the best year of his career in that regard, and his PFF run-blocking grade was just 70.5, a solid but underwhelming figure. Alt was at 86.5, and Taliese Fuaga from Oregon State posted a 90.9 grade.

"That’s definitely not ideal for a player talked about as an elite prospect, but neither is it necessarily unusual. Troy Fautanu didn't clear 75.0 in run blocking grade in three years, while some top tackle prospects of the past have been average run blockers. It’s a weakness of Fashanu’s, certainly relative to Alt, but we need to keep it in perspective.

"Run blocking is important, but it doesn’t have the season-changing ramifications that pass protection does. Bad pass protection jeopardizes the most valuable asset the franchise has: the quarterback."

I happen to love Fashanu as a prospect and believe he will be an NFL star left tackle. But if there truly are concerns about him as a run blocker, it does make sense that teams might have second thoughts about taking him in the top 10.

MY SLEEPERS

I've said all along that Johnson is a very good all-around tight end who will be a very valuable pro. Could he get some consideration for the second round or not? Ehhh, that might be a stretch, I guess. But I'd definitely take him somewhere in the third round.

The ultimate sleeper for me in this Penn State class is center Hunter Nourzad. His draft stock has been on the rise of late, and he's now considered a potential fourth-round pick. That's not bad at all for a guy who didn't get a lot of attention in college.

The Steelers need a center. They'll probably take one before the fourth round. But if they choose not to go that route early in the draft, Nourzad could be a decent play in the fourth round. Check out Nourzad vs. Ohio State below.

FULL MOCK DRAFT

If you missed it earlier this week, here's where ESPN has Penn State players going in its full seven-round mock draft.

First round

14th overall: LT Olu Fashanu, Saints

26th overall: DE Chop Robinson, Buccaneers

Second round

40th overall: DE Adisa Isaac, Commanders

Fourth round

121st overall: TE Theo Johnson, Broncos

122nd overall: OL Hunter Nourzad, Bears

127th overall: OL Caedan Wallace, Texans

Fifth round

147th overall: LB Curtis Jacobs, Broncos

Sixth round

186th overall: CB Kalen King, Cardinals

205th overall: CB Johnny Dixon, Lions

Seventh round

228th overall: CB Daequan Hardy, Ravens