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Iowa Football: Three Reasons Desmond King Isn't Consensus All-American
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Looking at why Desmond King didn’t repeat as a consensus All-American
In 2015, Iowa football cornerback Desmond King rose to become arguably the best defensive back in the nation. He tied Iowa’s school record with eight interceptions, became a consensus All-American and won the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the best cornerback each year.
King then became the first Jim Thorpe Award winner to return for his senior season. With a possible Big Ten championship and getting his degree on his mind, King stayed in Iowa City for one last go-around.
With his historic decision, King made almost every preseason All-American list, finished second behind Jabrill Peppers for the Preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and some even thought he had an outside chance to be the Heisman winner.
None of the came into fruition, though. King didn’t become the first player to win back-to-back Jim Thorpe Awards and he didn’t become a consensus All-American for a second straight year.
The Associated Press named King a second team All-American this season, while almost every other publication had him as an All-American as either a cornerback or punt returner, as well.
Even though Desmond King didn’t become a First Team All-American again, he still had a great season and had an argument.
Although these three reasons are why USC’s Adoree’ Jackson, the 2016 Jim Thorpe Award Winner, Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis and Ohio State’s Malik Hooker finished ahead of Desmond King.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Players Had Better Statistics/Teams
In 2015, Desmond King finished second in the nation and led the Big Ten with eight interceptions. Even though he didn’t record one in Iowa’s last five games, eight interceptions is a feat very few players accomplish. Plus, he added a career-high 72 tackles.
King simply didn’t have the same numbers to warrant a spot as a consensus All-American in 2016.
Here’s a look at King’s numbers against the three consensus All-American defensive backs:
The obvious discrepancy between them is their interception totals. Other than Lewis, whose numbers aren’t statistically superior, Jackson and Hooker both have significantly more interceptions than King. Hooker tied for fifth in the nation and led the Big Ten in picks.
Still, that leaves Jourdan Lewis, who no doubt is one of the best defensive backs in the nation, ahead of King, despite putting up underwhelming numbers. Although, he finished tied for 14th in passes defended, which means he doesn’t let receivers catch passes often.
Other than the fact numbers don’t tell the whole story of a player’s impact on their team, Lewis played on a better team, which gives players an extra boost.
Last season, King played on a 12-0 Iowa team that made the Big Ten Championship Game and Rose Bowl. That’s a big difference than Iowa finishing 8-4 this season.
Sure, the Hawkeyes upset Michigan, however the Wolverines are still clearly the better team and came just a couple of spots away from making the College Football Playoff. In fact, USC, Ohio State and Michigan are all in the College Football Ranking Top-10, while Iowa was left out completely.
Therefore, even though Lewis’ numbers aren’t spectacular, it’s telling of his off the stat sheet impact. Also, Michigan owning the second ranked scoring defense in the nation probably helped his cause, too.
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterbacks Avoided King
Don’t get me wrong, no team came into the game happy to throw against Adoree’ Jackson, Jourdan Lewis or Malik Hooker. Although, the notion of avoiding Desmond King from the start of the season until the end was engrained in every quarterback’s mind.
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King had very few chances to record interceptions or even tackles. It’s evident by his career-low 53 tackles, especially since its almost 20 tackles fewer than in 2015. King obviously missed a couple of tackles in the course of the season, but the drastic decrease isn’t by blown opportunities alone.
Opposing teams would occasionally test him at the start of the game but would quickly turn their attention towards Greg Mabin or Manny Rugamba.
Against Michigan, Wilton Speight rarely looked towards Amara Darboh because of King’s tight coverage. He held Darboh to one catch for five yards but only recorded one pass deflection, which is telling of how little Speight looked his way. Rather, Michigan eyed Jehu Chesson, who Rugamba covered. Rugamba recorded three pass deflections in the process.
In comparison to Iowa starting a true freshman and cornerback in Greg Mabin who proved susceptible to allowing big plays, both Michigan and Ohio State had two other defensive backs with at least three interceptions, plus, USC has a solid starter in Iman Marshall on the other side of the field, too.
It’s impossible to record stats when quarterbacks don’t look your way. That being said, King’s ability to take away a team’s top receiver and half the field is remarkable .
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Too High Of Expectations
Everything that Iowa did in 2015 came as a surprise and had people on the edge of their seats waiting to see how the Hawkeyes would follow-up their historic season. Iowa didn’t live up to those lofty expectations that had them winning the Big Ten West and making another Rose Bowl, and King couldn’t live up to his expectations, either.
King still played great, but, as previously mentioned, the statistics weren’t there. Most people expected teams to avoid him, which naturally would cause his stats to go down, but it still proved to be a very big shock when it actually happened.
A second straight eight interception season would have been nothing short of miraculous. That being said, as every publication threw King on their preseason All-American Team or named him the Big Ten’s best defensive player, they would also say how he has a chance to repeat his numbers from 2015 and possibly even exceed them.
That left a lot of room for disappointment and basically none for any shock. If King did intercept eight passes, he would likely be a consensus All-American but no one would be shocked or think anything of it because he did it before. Rather, any mistake he made and the 10 games he didn’t intercept a pass became a storyline.
King is worthy of being considered one of the top cornerbacks in the nation and all the awards he won last year. Although, his underdog and coming out of nowhere story played in his favor.
His stellar ball skills and tight coverage was seen many times before and people became accustomed to it. Therefore, even though he didn’t have a bad season and still had many very good games, he didn’t deliver the same ‘wow’ factor that eight interceptions did last season, and that’s what everyone was waiting for.
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