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It's all in the (32-inch) arms for new Packers cornerback Kevin King

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Everyone wanted to talk about his height and yes, at 6-foot-3 -- a legitimate 6-3 based on his combine measurement -- Kevin King is the tallest cornerback Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson has ever drafted.

But perhaps what should be discussed more is the length of his arms.

King’s arms measured 32 inches at the combine, which is also a number foreign to the Packers’ cornerbacks of late.

The Seattle Seahawks have seemingly set the new size standard for cornerbacks in the NFL and as ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia pointed out, they haven’t drafted a cornerback since 2010 with an arm length shorter than 32 inches, the great cover man Richard Sherman among them. Seahawks general manager John Schneider, the former Packers personnel advisor, noted last weekend after drafting another defensive back with arms longer than 32 inches that “being able to reach for the ball upon contact" is an important part of the position.

“He’s tall [with] leverage,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of King. “His bump-and-run [ability] is something every defense wants to do when you’re looking from the other side of the ball, when you’re playing against free access or vision-coverage defense, obviously, it keeps the offensive perimeter more in a rhythmic passing game. The fact you can play bump and run every snap, I think every defensive coach in the league would do that. So he comes in here with that being his best asset.”

There wasn’t much talk of King’s arm length on draft weekend -- his 4.43 speed was the second major talking point after his height -- and although Thompson mentioned it in passing, it surely factored into the Packers decision to use the 33rd overall pick on him.

“We liked his size, his height, his arm length, his speed,” Thompson said. “We liked the way he covered on the outside and we also liked the way that they could move him. Despite his height, he could move inside into the slot and play him in the middle of the field, all of those things.”

King’s arm length trumps the Packers’ top three returning cornerbacks from last season. Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins – the 5-foot-11 corners the Packer drafted with their first two picks in 2015 -- measure the same in arm length: 30¼ inches. The 6-foot-1 LaDarius Gunter, an undrafted free agent the same year, has 31½-inch arms.

"I think it's always good to add guys with size,” Packers director of pro personnel Eliot Wolf said. “That's something we're cognizant of. With him, the unique thing about such a tall guy is his ability to bend for such a tall guy. Sometimes the taller guys show a little bit of stiffness. We didn't see that. We actually saw that as a strength for him."