Hawkeyes Football: Desmond King Named ESPN All-American
By Jeremy Karll
Desmond King has been named an ESPN Preseason All-American
The preseason recognition for Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Desmond King continues. Heading into his senior season, Desmond King is coming off a school-record eight interceptions and 72 tackles as a junior. He didn’t have this much hype surrounding him heading into his senior year, but the possible top-10 pick will be one of the most watched corners in the nation this season after being a consensus All-American last year.
King was joined by Florida’s Jalen Tabor, another possible top-10 pick, as the only ESPN Preseason All-American cornerbacks. Tabor is another highly touted cornerback prospect out of Florida, after Vernon Hargreaves III was drafted in the first round in this past year’s draft. Tabor is arguably the biggest threat to stopping King from winning back-to-back Jim Thorpe awards.
Other Big Ten players named an ESPN Preseason All-American include Michigan’s tight end Jake Butt, Indiana’s offensive guard Dan Feeney, Ohio State’s center Pat Elfein and linebacker Raekwon McMillan and Michigan State’s defensive tackle Malik McDowell.
Desmond King is seemingly the lone player on the Iowa Hawkeyes who has a chance to be named an All-American at the end of the season. If King was named to the AP All-American team this year, he would be the first Hawkeyes player to be named to two All-American Teams since Chad Greenway did so in 2004 and 2005. The hype surrounding Desmond King is at an all-time high, all that’s left is for him to perform at a high-level once again.