Brock Huard’s NFL Draft preview: Washington DB Kevin King
Apr 22, 2017, 6:25 PM
UW cornerback Kevin King's draft stock skyrocketed after a stellar combine performance. (AP)
(AP)
Each day, Brock Huard is profiling a different draft prospect that he considers an early-round possibility for the Seahawks. His draft previews continued with Washington’s Kevin King. The audio is embedded above.
• Position: DB
• Height/weight: 6-3, 192
• Class: Sr.
• Hometown: San Leandro, Calif.
Scouting report: King was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection at cornerback in each of his last two seasons with the Huskies, making big plays with regularity even if he didn’t get the same kind of attention out of Montlake as fellow UW secondary members and 2017 NFL Draft prospects Budda Baker and Sidney Jones. In 2016, he made two interceptions, broke up a team-high 13 passes, and made 44 tackles, including 3.5 for loss. Not bad for somebody who was playing safety when he first arrived at UW. The most interesting thing about him, however, is what he’s done since the end of the college football season, which we’ll get to next.
Brock’s take: “Kevin King has moved his draft stock more than anybody else,” Huard said. A look at the results from the NFL combine shows why. King ran a 4.43 40-yard dash, had a vertical leap of 39.5 inches that was fourth among all defensive backs, and ran the best three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle times of any players in Indianapolis. So after years of being overshadowed by Baker and Jones, King has shot up draft boards to find in the same company as his Husky teammates. Huard believes King’s combine performance is indicative of what he can do on the field, but it’s not the only reason he’d be on board if the Seahawks take him in the first round. “I think Kevin King’s got high football character, I think he’s got high character off the field. ‘You want me to be a safety, I’ll be a safety. You want me to be a corner, I’ll be a corner. You want me to be a difference-maker, I’ll be a difference-maker.'”
How he’d fit: Well. Very well. There’s three reasons for that. One, his experience playing both cornerback and safety if something the Seahawks could make use of right away, as they did with DeShawn Shead early in his career. Two, he has the body type and mentality the Seahawks like in their cornerbacks – like Richard Sherman, he’s tall, has long arms and no problem dishing out a big hit. Or, as Huard puts it: “He’s willing to tackle.” That’s a big thing for Pete Carroll and John Schneider, as is something else that is reason No. 3. Being that King’s been in Seattle at UW, he’s familiar with the way the Seahawks do things. That puts him at an advantage over other possible corners Seattle may take, because it’s something the Seahawks have shown they value since Carroll and Schneider arrived in town. “I’m reminded of Schneider and Carroll with us over the years saying, ‘In our evaluation, we have to take into account how they’re going to handle this place,'” Huard said. Those three factors are why several NFL Draft experts have identified King as a likely pick for Seattle in the first round, including the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, who said this to “Brock and Salk”: “To me, the obvious choice is just right down the street in Kevin King from Washington. You find a corner that’s 6-3, 200-pound kid, he ran the 40 in the low 4.4s, he can play the ball, he’s tough. He’s a cookie cutter for what you’d want in that defense and that scheme.” Somebody else who agrees: UW coach Chris Petersen, who exclaimed ‘Heck yes!’ when asked on “Brock and Salk” if the Seahawks should pick King.
