Packers: 3 players Green Bay can replace Kevin King with at cornerback
By John Buhler
The Green Bay Packers have options if they want to part ways with Kevin King this offseason.
The Green Bay Packers came up painfully short of the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. While it was not a blowout in the NFC Championship game this time, Green Bay lost at home, and four-year NFL veteran Kevin King may have played his last game in Titletown.
King had a miserable time guarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ vaunted aerial attack a few Sundays back. A busted coverage near the end of the first half put King on a poster for all the wrong reasons. The former Washington Huskies standout will be hitting free agency, and if Green Bay is done with King after four seasons, here are three guys who could replace him in 2021.
3 offseason replacements for Kevin King
CB. player. 850. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Jaycee Horn. 3. South Carolina Gamecocks
Could he be a perennial Pro Bowler like his father was in New Orleans?
Green Bay will have the No. 29 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. No matter what the Packers do with their top-32 pick this year, it will be of better use than what they did a spring ago. They traded up to draft a project quarterback in Jordan Love out of Utah State. He did not contribute at all on the field in his rookie year, mostly because the Packers had the NFL MVP in Aaron Rodgers.
What Green Bay could look to do is bolster the back-end of its defense to give incoming defensive coordinator Joe Barry some firepower right away at the end of the first round. One player who should be available in the late 20s is former South Carolina Gamecocks standout Jaycee Horn. He is the son of four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn, most notably of New Orleans Saints fame.
Horn played his college ball for Will Muschamp in Columbia. While the Gamecocks were not the least bit good in his final two years in the SEC, leading to Muschamp’s firing, South Carolina had plenty of great pieces on defense. Horn made the SEC All-Freshman team a few years ago, letting us all know he has the talent to be a star at the next level. However, he did opt out in November.
That probably had to do with Muschamp getting fired and South Carolina having a miserable season. Though Horn could be off the board slightly before the Packers are picking at No. 29, he could be worth trading up for. Given what the Packers did the year prior, they have no excuse to not trade up to get their guy. Unlike Love, Horn can actually compete for playing time immediately.