Draft Transcript – Karon Prunty 4/25
PATRIOTS 2026 FIFTH-ROUND DRAFT PICK KARON PRUNTY
PRESS CONFERENCE
April 25, 2026
Q: I’m curious to figure out what your pre-draft visit was like or your pre-draft contact was like with the Patriots, and were you surprised at all when you got the phone call?
KP: My visit there, it went pretty good. I knew the cornerbacks coach, Justin Hamilton, when he was at Virginia Tech and everything. He had recruited me out of high school and things like that. So, I was very familiar with him. I just met the staff and everything. Everything went good. I know TreVeyon Henderson, the running back, he’s also from Virginia, played against him in high school, chopped it up with him on the visit as well. So, overall, I felt like my visit went good. I had a good time there and I enjoyed everything about it.
Q: For those who don’t know you, how would you describe your game and are there any cornerbacks you look up to and model your game after?
KP: For the ones that don’t know me, I’ll just tell them that I’m a consistent player, a guy that has great awareness, great instincts. A guy that’s going to give you everything he got. I was a Freshman All-American when I first came to college, HBCU All-American when I was at North Carolina A&T, Wake Forest, Third Team All-ACC, PFF All-ACC. So, I feel like I am proven and I’m only getting better each year. I think I got better and I don’t see that stopping when I get to the next level. As far as cornerbacks, I like a lot of cornerbacks. I like Christian Gonzalez. I like Jaycee Horn, Patrick Surtain [II]. I like very tall type of corners.
Q: You just talked about your kind of winding road in college a little bit. Can you take us through that, all the different stops that you had there and what kind of led to that path?
KP: I started off my career at Kansas. I was a Freshman All-American. Big 12 Honorable Mention. Next year, I transferred because of coaching issues. Following that year, I ended up going to North Carolina A&T. I was an HBCU All-American my first year there. Made first team all-conference. Then the next two years, I made all-conference. Then when I got to Wake Forest, I made Third Team All-ACC, PFF All-ACC. My journey has been crazy. It’s been a long journey, but it all paid off. Whether it was good decisions or bad decisions, it was all worth it. All the sacrifices I made to finally get here, it finally paid off.
Q: I was curious, you mentioned Christian Gonzalez. What about his play, if anything, have you looked to and what’s your level of excitement to join the cornerback room that he’s in, along with the others?
KP: The main thing I like about him is he plays with a good pad level. Very consistent, very disciplined. He also has fluid hips. As far as movement, he’s kind of my favorite because I feel like everything he does is pretty smooth. Even when he was at Oregon and everything, everything just seemed pretty smooth.
Q: Karon, you mentioned watching Christian Gonzalez, knowing TreVeyon Henderson. I’m curious if you have any other connections with players currently on the Patriots?
KP: No. TreVeyon Henderson, he’s the only one I know. I played against him in high school and everything, ran track against him, things like that. He’s the only one I know, like, know, know on the team.
Q: Do you have any notable memories of facing him? Did you cover him in a game or anything?
KP: He was more of a running back, so I couldn’t really cover him that much, but I did see him break a lot of plays against my team and things like that. It was very fun, very competitive at the time.
Q: Karon, I know that you have a track background, and I’m curious, how important is speed? How big a part of speed is your game? And then also, I noticed you took some special teams’ snaps over the course of your college career.
KP: I feel like speed is very important, but you can’t always rely on your speed as a corner. Most times, it’s good to play with good technique. Good technique outweighs everything.
Q: Where were you playing on special teams?
KP: I was a gunner and a jammer, and then I’ll also be on kickoff as a safety sometimes.
Q: Looking at your profile, it looks like you piled up some sacks and hits in your career, you’ve gotten a good amount of interceptions and disruptions. How important is being a disruptive type of player for you, and how do you prepare yourself to be able to capitalize and put yourself in positions to make plays the way you have in college?
KP: I feel like as a corner, you’ve got to be productive. I feel I put myself in the right position to make plays. Just watching film, reading formations, knowing route recognitions, things like that. Played college for five years, so I’m very aware of what’s going on around me and everything like that. My stats don’t lie. I have seven, eight career interceptions, I got two sacks. Those two sacks were at nickel as well, so they weren’t at corner. I also had, I think, 28 pass breakups. The stats, they show up for themselves, and my film also shows it.
Q: After your pre-draft meeting with New England, was there a confidence level that you had that you might end up here? Was this a place that you wanted to be drafted to?
KP: Yes, this is a place I wanted to be drafted to. As far as me after my visit and everything, I feel like the visit went good. I felt like if they had the opportunity to get me, I felt like they would’ve. I feel like when I was there, I feel like I impressed them a lot just with my football knowledge, and my IQ, and just seeing if I can retain information and everything like that. I feel like I did a good job at everything as well. I feel like the meetings and everything went good. I was confident after I left New England and everything, and now we’re here.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety on patriots.com. The duplication or posting of this transcript in its entirety as original content is prohibited. Media are encouraged to link to the complete transcript on patriots.com when sharing full quotes with their audiences.
Download the Word Document here: Prunty 042526