Boss-man Ben Ross phrased it about as well as you can yesterday: “as Americans we know there really is no offseason for football.” Alas, here we are discussing Desmond King and his potential NFL Draft future.
Depending on the service you fancy, the defensive back looks like a late first rounder at the highest, but more likely a second rounder, especially given his strong 40-yard dash times (4.52, 4.55) at Iowa’s Pro Day workouts Monday afternoon.
Let’s talk about money! What will being selected in this range mean for the former Thorpe Award winner’s billfold? Given the projections the fine folks at Spotrac put together, the short answer is somewhere in the mid-to high $4MM range on the low end to around $6.5-7 at the highest. If he slips to the third round, $3.8 looks like the peak there.
- Should King go to the Cleveland Browns at No. 52 (WalterFootball), Spotrac projects he’d get $4.93 on his rookie deal.
- Should King get picked up by the Patriots (our own J.P. Scott), King would make $3.2 to $3.7. Becoming a Houston Texan (4.4/3.3) or L.A. Charger (6.4/3.7) would project similarly.
- For what it’s worth, King probably would’ve gone in the first round had he left when his stock was highest after the 2015 Rose Bowl season, giving him anywhere from $10-15 million on his four-year rookie contract. The dollars (we omitted the undisclosed contractual terms) for defensive backs in the first round went: Jalen Ramsey, No. 5 Jacksonville, $23.3; Eli Apple, No. 10 New York Giants, $15.1; and Keanu Neal, No. 17 Atlanta; $10.7
Be reminded that these are projections, and even the Mel Kiper Jr.’s and Todd McShay’s of the world are hardly ever that accurate, but let’s hope King’s durability, football instincts, and the other parts of his Hawkeye career are enough to get this man paid.
If the rookie plays well to start his career — most of us think he will, I presume — another former Iowa DB got a nice contract ($14 million guaranteed) from the Buffalo Bills this offseason. Comparing King and Micah Hyde isn’t 1:1, but could be something to keep in the back of the head for later on. If you’re versatile on defense and a strong special teamer, there is money to be made in the league. Oh yeah, having Drew Rosenhaus as an agent isn’t bad, either.
If anyone’s having trouble working yourself out of wrestling season, how does a secondhand medical analysis of Cory Clark’s shoulder and wrist injuries sound? On Cory Clark Recognition Day, no less?
Senate Resolution 14 passes unanimously. March 29, 2017 is officially Cory Clark Recognition Day#ClarkOnCapitolHill pic.twitter.com/uzSm1I6ggf
— Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) March 29, 2017
Great! How hard is it to wrestle with a shoulder that’s popped out of its socket twice and some torn ligaments in the wrist? According to an Athletic Trainer friend:
“Really hard but it can be done.”
We know!
If you’re yearning for more, it’s tough to get too specific on Clark’s injury without talking to people who worked directly with him — damn HIPAA laws. But, we have general background on dislocated shoulders for insight into exactly what the 133-pound national champ was feeling on the mat for the majority of the season.
Again, take this with a grain of salt as I’m paraphrasing and have no background in muscles, joints, or the like, but when a shoulder pops out of its socket, the smaller, weaker muscles that make up the rotator cuff are tasked to keep it in place. This adds strain to an area absolutely vital to a competitor’s success.
Whether opponents did or didn’t know the severity of Clark’s shoulder, they knew it was screwed up to a degree by seeing the enormous wrap on his left arm. Let’s not forget the tape on his left wrist either. Looking back on the NCAA Tournament, it’s tough to say if it’s more surprising or impressive that the former Hawkeye was able to keep guys away from such a vulnerable area.
We at The Pants (by the way, have you met a few of the newbies, used loosely) are happy and impressed he was able to keep the discipline in rehab and learn how protect the area and use it to his advantage.
After all, you can’t factually say Cory Clark won a national title without dislocating his shoulder twice!