Penn State Football: The Nittany Lions #1 Cornerback in 2023

The Penn State football secondary will certainly look different in this upcoming season. With Joey Porter Jr and Ji’Ayir Brown moving onto the NFL, the door of opportunity has opened for another player.

This is someone the Penn State football community is well aware of, but after this season I believe he will be deemed as a college football star. Ladies and gentlemen the Nittany Lions #1 cornerback in 2023 is Kalen King.

Kalen King enters his junior season in 2023 and his responsibility will increase significantly. The role of the #1 cornerback is to follow the opposing team’s best receiver. So, the entire team is depending on you to be the best on every play.

I believe King is very much prepared for this role, the last time we saw #4 on the field he was in that role in the 2023 Rose Bowl game where he made this play.

Here King almost runs the route for the Utah receiver and makes an incredibly athletic interception.

The most impressive thing about Kalen King is his growth. He saw the field a lot as a true freshman, and he played well; however, there were some penalties and mistakes most freshman make.

He took his game to the next level between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Last year he had 30 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 21 pass breakups. Those 21 pass breakups led the Big Ten and were the 3rd most pass breakups in the country.

The entire secondary as a whole will be very good this season, but it all starts with Kalen King. He is now the leader of the secondary, he plays the game the right way and has worked incredibly hard for this moment.

If he continues to play at this level, we could hear this Penn State football star’s name called in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.