{"id":69950,"date":"2019-08-08T12:39:44","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=69950"},"modified":"2021-12-29T16:14:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T21:14:19","slug":"kevin-king-long-term-plans-packers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/08\/08\/kevin-king-long-term-plans-packers\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin King Should Not Be a Part of Long-Term Plans for Green Bay Packers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Packers<\/a> have the opportunity to have a special defense in 2019. Kevin King<\/a><\/strong>, entering his third season after being taken 33rd overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, has the opportunity to be a big part of that defense. If he stays healthy, and that\u2019s a big if.<\/p>\n

King, who\u2019s extremely talented and valuable near the sideline at 6’3″ and 200 pounds, has played only 15 games over the past two seasons \u2013 not even a full season\u2019s worth of action. Injuries have been a major concern for him, with a knee injury putting him on injured reserve in 2017 and a hamstring injury taking him out in Week Nine of the 2018 season. That\u2019s not even taking into consideration injuries he suffered at the college level, this despite the fact that he was a standout cornerback for the Washington Huskies.<\/p>\n

When he plays, he\u2019s as talented a corner as you\u2019ll find in the NFL. The issue is, he\u2019s almost never on the field for the Packers, and a hamstring injury already suffered this preseason in training camp should have Green Bay concerned about his long-term viability for the team.<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers Should Consider Moving on From Kevin King<\/strong><\/h2>\n

King, who needs to have a great preseason in order to establish himself across from Jaire Alexander<\/a><\/strong> at cornerback, suffered a hamstring injury during Green Bay\u2019s Family Night scrimmage this past week. That has led to him staying out of practice \u2013 missing valuable reps \u2013and though it sounds like this won\u2019t be a long-term injury, it can\u2019t be encouraging for the Packers to have injuries already cropping up for their number two corner.<\/p>\n

The good news is, at least for now, general manager Brian Gutekunst<\/strong> doesn\u2019t appear to be extremely worried about this particular injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like he\u2019s going to be OK and it shouldn\u2019t be a long-term thing,\u201d he said on Monday<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ll kind of wait and see. Those things you usually know a little bit more in a few days here. When guys have continuous things it\u2019s always bothersome. He was having a great camp, so far, but hopefully, he\u2019ll be back pretty quickly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Though Gutekunst deflected any initial worry he did somewhat tip his hand in the latter part of his quote. \u201cIt\u2019s always bothersome\u201d, he said of continual injuries to specific players. And in the context of King<\/a>, the Packers front office has to find his injury history particularly bothersome.<\/p>\n

This is a player they invested major draft capital in, after all, and they\u2019ve entrusted him to play a big role in this new-look Green Bay defense.\u00a0 If he continually can\u2019t show up or can\u2019t live up to his potential because of injury, the Packers would be wise to start looking at a contingency plan for a second corner. If King can\u2019t be trusted to play, perhaps it\u2019s time to give an opportunity for another player to step up \u2013 thus taking the pressure off of King as well as the Packers\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n

Long-Term Options for CB2<\/h2>\n

The good news for Green Bay at cornerback is that the Packers have what appears to be a potential superstar in Alexander. He\u2019s fast, aggressive, physical and extremely confident. Green Bay isn\u2019t afraid to have Alexander match up with their opponent\u2019s top wide receiver and he\u2019s always going to be ready for a challenge. Alexander has true lock-down potential, but in order to be completely effective, it would be great for the Pack to have a solid number two cornerback across from him so that opposing offenses can\u2019t simply ignore Alexander and throw away from him.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what has made the prospect of an Alexander-King one-two punch so exciting for the Packers. But Green Bay may have other viable long-term options if they decide to keep King out of the long-term plans.<\/p>\n

Right now, believe it or not, undrafted second-year cornerback Tony Brown<\/a><\/strong> could end up being one of those options. Brown, who played for Nick Saban<\/strong> at Alabama, has taken advantage of injuries to King and second-year cornerback Josh Jackson<\/a><\/strong> and has flashed confidence and competence in training camp so far. He snagged a pick-six at Family Night and per Packers.com, he\u2019s using these additional reps as a way to highlight just how good he can be for Green Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith me getting those extra reps, I take them as just more opportunity to show what I can do,\u201d he said. \u201cLike I always say, I\u2019m undrafted, so I feel like I always keep an extra chip on my shoulder because of how I got into this league. So, the more chances I can get against great athletes and great competition, the better for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The aforementioned Josh Jackson, though currently injured, could also become a viable option for the Packers.<\/p>\n

If King is healthy, it makes sense for the Packers to play Jackson at nickelback, where he has experience. But the big, strong cornerback from Iowa does have some experience on the edge and he can be especially useful the more he gets used to playing man coverage. Keep in mind, he has shown flashes of being a big-time ball-hawk. He showed up in a big way last preseason for Green Bay, and in his last season for the Hawkeyes, he snagged eight interceptions as a starting cornerback for Iowa \u2013 including two taken back to the house.<\/p>\n

Jackson or Brown both have the potential to step up long-term if Green Bay decides that the Kevin King experiment isn\u2019t worth it.<\/p>\n

A New Era for Green Bay<\/h2>\n

King is under contract with the Packers through 2020, but Gutekunst has shown that he\u2019s not afraid to move on from the past in order to secure a brighter future for Green Bay.<\/p>\n

This off-season alone saw the Packers let Clay Matthews<\/a><\/strong> and Randall Cobb<\/a><\/strong> walk in free agency and stud defensive tackle Mike Daniels<\/a><\/strong> was cut for salary cap reasons<\/a>. All fan favorites. All players who Green Bay has been highly invested in.<\/p>\n

Gutekunst isn\u2019t afraid to make tough moves, which should have King on notice heading into this season.<\/p>\n

Assuming his current injury isn\u2019t long-term, King will still be under pressure to both perform and stay healthy, because another underwhelming season may just find him on the chopping block. And frankly, even if he does stay healthy, Green Bay should start considering life without him.<\/p>\n

While talented, King is far from trustworthy.<\/p>\n

Gutekunst has shown so far that the can make shrewd moves and he\u2019s had pretty decent returns so far in free agency and in the draft. Perhaps no matter what, the Packers should start looking at other options. Whether that be Jackson, Brown, or a player we don\u2019t know about yet, how comfortable should the Packers feel about King\u2019s long-term viability?<\/p>\n

The answer is \u201cnot comfortable at all,” which is why it makes sense for Green Bay \u2013 which has a three to four-year Super Bowl window right now with Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> on the back-nine of his career \u2013 to start considering life apart from King.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>