Colts Kick Tires Around CB Justin King

How desperate is Indianapolis for veteran players at the cornerback position? So desperate they recently worked out (arguably) the worst corner in football last year, Justin King.

I note "arguably" because I've never seen King play. However, Pro Football Focus is pretty adamant that King is a terrible corner, and it seems the St. Louis Rams agree with them. The 25-year-old Penn State graduate started twelve games for the Rams last year after injuries forced him into the starting lineup. At the end of the year, the Rams let him walk.

King was a 4th round pick of the Rams in 2008, and at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine, he ran a 4.31 40 time, second fastest to RB Chris Johnson.

The Colts are entering the 2012 season extremely thin at corner. Other than Jerraud Powers, the team has virtually no one that has significant gameday experience, or has proven themselves as an NFL-caliber corner. While it's possible that the Colts could swing a trade (or, perhaps get lucky and sign a decent corner cut by another team), the reality is these are the corners they're stuck with, and adding King would actually be an improvement (a notion that probably has more than a few Rams fans laughing right now).

Speaking of the Rams, they opted to rebuild around their defense in this year's draft, selecting corners Janoris Jenkins (2nd round, pick 39) and Trumaine Johnson (3rd round, 65). Both Jenkins and Johnson were passed over by the Colts, who instead opted to select TEs Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen. It will be interesting to see which strategy pays off the most. If Jenkins or Johnson develop into quality corners, while the Colts continue to struggle with their pass defense, the decision to go with back-to-back TEs will be criticized.

For now, I'm just worried that the Colts won't have anyone to cover the opponent's receivers in 2012, and if Justin King is an option, that depresses me even more.