After Prove-It Season, Cornerback Will Have Predraft Visit With Packers

After three schools in six collegiate seasons, Karon Prunty’s next stop is the NFL.

His path to the draft will include a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers, according to Easton Butler.

Prunty started his college career at Kansas in 2020, where he was a True Freshman All-American with one interception, 10 passes defensed and a scant 38.5 percent completion rate. He did not allow a touchdown and led all freshmen in pass breakups.

“He has no ceiling. I feel like he gets better every week,” safety Ricky Thomas said at the time. “He’s a great guy and I feel like by the time he leaves here, he’s going to be one of the best.”

However, he opted to leave the program after the season and landed at North Carolina A&T. After sitting out the 2021 season, he started 12 games in 2022, 11 games in 2023 and 12 games in 2024.

He transferred to Wake Forest, where he was reunited with his position coach from Kansas, Chevis Jackson, for his final season and was outstanding. Pro Football Focus charged him with a 48.1 percent catch rate. He gave up three touchdowns, intercepted one pass and yielded a 79.8 passer rating. He yielded just 18.3 yards per game.

“I wanted to show that I belong on this level and I can compete with anybody,” Prunty told On3 during the season. “I feel like I’ve been showing that so far and I’m going to continue to show that.”

By moving back to a high-profile program, it allowed Prunty to re-establish himself as a prospect.

“It was more so, also, just proving it to myself as well,” Prunty said. “I feel like I’ve been this same, consistent corner since I got to college, at Kansas and A&T.

“I just wanted to prove it here again, as well.”

Prunty, who was not invited to the Scouting Combine, measured 6-foot-1 1/2 with 31 3/4-inch arms at Wake Forest’s pro day. With a 4.45 in the 40 and a 33-inch vertical, his Relative Athletic Score was 8.65 seconds.

“I proved all the doubters wrong,” Prunty said at pro day.

Prunty is incredibly experienced with almost 3,300 snaps on defense and another 305 on special teams in five seasons.

His path to the NFL was predicted by his coach at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Va., Robert Jackson.

“I’m not sure how good he thought he could be,” Jackson told KUSports.com. “He played both sides of the ball. He ran punts and kickoffs back for touchdowns. He was one of our leading receivers. But I told him if he’s going to make money that it’s going to be at that defensive back position.”

The Packers have a major need at cornerback. They could use an immediate, starting-level player, though perhaps Benjamin St-Juste will fill that void.

“He stayed healthy,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said recently of St-Juste, who had an excellent season off the bench for the Chargers last year. “Earlier in his career, he had a couple things. I think he kind of was that third corner and, whenever he got his opportunity to really play, I thought he played at a very, very high level.

“We liked him a lot coming out of the draft, his size and length on the outside is something we didn’t have a lot of, something we wanted to get. He was kind of a target for us. Took a little longer than I would’ve hoped but nice to finally get that done.”

Really, though, they need young, developmental prospects at a position group in which only St-Juste will be under contract after the 2026 season. Prunty could be part of that new crew of cornerbacks.

“My journey has been kind of crazy. But I learned a lot through my journey. I experienced a lot,” Prunty said in the On3 story. “Those experiences and mistakes I made, and also good decisions I made, helped me become a better man.

“As I get older, I kind of see things what they are. I’ve just been more understanding of life in general and that’s just helped me, as well.”

Prunty is not expected to be drafted, and the same is true for Malcolm DeWalt IV, another cornerback who visited the Packers.

The Packers also hosted Charles Demmings, a small-school cornerback standout from Stephen F. Austin.

Packers Predraft Visits

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