Iowa’s Desmond King played 53 games at cornerback during his college career and while he had quite a bit of success playing that position that included him registering 14 total interceptions, several analysts believe he’s destined to play safety in the NFL.
During King’s Sunday media session at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine he was asked about his meetings with teams so far and what he’s been told might be his position in the NFL.
“A lot of teams are saying safety, a lot of teams saying nickel, but like I said, I’m willing to do whatever it takes and whatever position they neeed mer at to help the team,” King said.
King believes his ability to play the run will help him at any position and especially if asked to play a nickel role.
“I feel like playing nickel, it gives you both sides of the whole defense,” King said. “You can play in the run and have run fits and you can also go out and cover and play zone coverages as well.”
King registered 263 total tackles during his career at Iowa with 58 coming last season. He admitted Sunday that he is very comfortable playing in in a zone-heavy scheme as well.
“We run a lot of zone at Iowa,” King said. “That’s something I’m used to. I feel like zone coverage has helped in determining whether or not I’m a good player, can I be zone disciplined or not?”
King, who will not run the 40-yard dash on Monday due to an abdominal strain, expects to take part in drills. He does, however, plan on running at his Iowa pro day. Before taking part in the on-field portion of the combine, King said Saturday that he was scheduled to meet with the Pittsburgh Steelers later in the evening.
“I actually meet with the Steelers later tonight,” said King, who measured in at Indianapolis at 5’11”, 201-pounds and did 14 reps of 225-pounds on Saturday.
More than anything, King believes his versatility will allow him to play any position in the NFL.
“I’m not certain what I’m going to play, but I feel like I can play any position in the secondary whether its corner, nickel, or safety just because of the versatility that I have and my ability to go out there and makes plays.”
You can watch King’s full interview below:
