Caleb

King

Arrested early Saturday, King is accused of beating a 22-year-old man who “teased King about resembling a certain celebrity.” The victim suffered skull and facial fractures. He remains hospitalized, and is in serious condition. Promoted from the practice squad in Week 17, King went without a carry. This severely dampens his chances of earning a roster spot in camp.

After being teased about “resembling a certain celebrity,” King allegedly fractured his victim’s skull and left him with possible brain damage. A fringe talent to begin with, King won’t be with the Vikings in 2012.

This is hardly a surprise. Already a roster longshot, King put his football future in jeopardy by allegedly fracturing another man’s skull and leaving him with possible brain damage over the weekend. In the meantime, King has been released from custody without charges. After showing up to camp out of shape last season, he’s running out of chances to carve out an NFL career.

Among the Vikings’ final cuts after going unclaimed in the supplemental draft, King will slot in behind Toby Gerhart and Lorenzo Booker with Adrian Peterson out for Week 17. Reportedly out of shape last summer, King will have to prove he’s dedicated to football to draw any interest this offseason.

Beat writer Tom Pelissero also observed that King, “looks out of shape,” and says he’d be “stunned” if King was more than a practice squad candidate. King could’ve done a better job if keeping his body conditioned during the offseason, and his agent could’ve done a better job of finding his client a landing spot. Going to Minnesota was never in King’s best interests.

Toby Gerhart is nursing a sore ankle and Achilles’, and the Vikings don’t want to use Adrian Peterson very much in the preseason. Craig suggests that King could either head to the practice squad or perhaps be converted to fullback (an odd idea). Either way, King is highly unlikely to make the roster at tailback.

Terrelle Pryor was the only player drafted, leaving King and former North Carolina DE Michael McAdoo, among others, as undrafted rookies available to sign as free agents. King was the second-highest rated supplemental draft-eligible, and met with the Lions before the draft. He should catch onto a roster shortly.

It’s a questionable selection for King, who was not selected in Monday’s supplemental draft. He’s behind Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, and coaching staff favorite Lorenzo Booker, and would need the Vikes to keep four running backs on the Opening Day roster to make the final 53. King is a late-round kind of talent, so he may simply have not had great alternatives.

Defensive back Cord Parks was waived/injured. DeGeare is probably the biggest surprise after competing for the starting right guard job in camp. King showed very little during his time on the roster, and we’re skeptical that he has a future at all in the NFL after running a 4.7 before the supplemental draft.

King, a former five-star high school recruit, was a disappointment at Georgia, averaging 4.98 career yards per carry while being used mostly as a backup. According to Profootballtalk.com, the scouting service BLESTO graded King as a sixth-rounder entering his senior season, while National Scouting gave him a priority UDFA grade. We suspect King won’t be picked in the supplemental draft and will eventually have to sign as a free agent.