Justin King did his best to remain upbeat, but the dejection in his voice was clear.

A second-round prospect sliding all the way to the fourth round of the NFL draft surely wasn’t what he had in mind.

The 32 NFL teams had a different vision for King and former Penn State teammate Dan Connor.

The Carolina Panthers used the 74th overall pick to make Connor the first Penn State player picked in this weekend’s NFL draft, this after nearly every mock draft had Connor going no later than the early second round.

King found himself in a similar situation after the St. Louis Rams picked him in the fourth round with the 101st overall selection. He, too, believed he would end up going no later than the middle of the second round.

“No explanation at all,” King said yesterday afternoon. “Everybody, the coaches I was close with, was calling saying everybody was stunned. GMs were telling me, defensive coordinators, decision makers saying I’d be the beginning of the second round at the latest. It didn’t work out that way.”

Connor’s father, Jim, was equally perplexed to rationalize how his son lasted until the second day.

“He’s happy for all aspects,” Jim said, “except for the round. He’s very surprised. Just confused. It’s a crapshoot. He was on the bad side of this.”

That confusion extends to Carolina’s coaches, scouts and virtually everyone else involved. Connor said the Panthers called before drafting his son to double-check that he had not been injured recently or found trouble.

Dan Shonka, who now runs ourlads.com, a scouting service that analyzes the draft, also had no explanation.

“Some of the craziest things can happen and can get a guy either knocked off a board or knocked down a board,” Shonka, an NFL scout for 16 years, said yesterday. “Those two guys ought to be happy. Those guys will make their money back in their second contract if they’re NFL players, and they both are.”

The financial hit is arguably the biggest consequence of falling down the draft board. Last year’s 74th overall pick, wide receiver Yamon Figurs, signed with the Baltimore Ravens for three years and $1.694 million. His signing bonus was $579,000.

If Connor had been drafted where he was slotted, his contract likely would have mirrored the contract former PSU linebacker Paul Posluszny received from Buffalo. Posluszny signed for four years and $4.75 million with $2.55 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.47 million.

Opinions on where King would have been picked in the second round vary, leaving his financial loss more difficult to project. Kenny Irons was drafted in the middle of the second round last year and signed for $5 million over four years. Instead, King likely will get a contract in the neighborhood of last year’s 101st round pick, Adam Podlesh. Podlesh signed a four-year, $2.15 million contract.

“Money’s going to come,” King said, adding that, “I wasn’t worried too much about where I was going to be picked. ... Today was a roller coaster. Today went down a bit. It’s all part of the ride. The round I went in, I was a little disappointed, but it wasn’t a deciding factor.”

How to explain the drop? ESPN analyst Mel Kiper had sharp words for King’s abilities as a cover cornerback after King was picked.

“We’re looking at highlight drills,” Kiper said on air. “We’re looking at Justin King at his best. Justin King on the field this year was beaten far too much.”

Connor, Penn State’s all-time tackles leader, also faced criticism from Big Ten Network commentator Hub Arkush in a broadcast before the draft. Arkush said some scouts saw Connor as a top-10 pick, but others viewed Connor as a player who “was a little cockier than you would like. He’s a kid who’s too impressed with his own numbers.”

Shonka never heard of attitude problems, and Jim Connor said quite a few NFL teams praised his son as a quality kid who was a team captain.

“I’m not sure where that [perception] comes from,” Jim Connor said.

Regardless, both are eager to begin their NFL careers. Connor will rejoin former Nittany Lion teammate Tim Shaw, who sent a text message offering congratulations. Connor could vie for a starting spot as a rookie, Shonka said.

King, meanwhile, will head to a city he’s never before visited to play for a team with which he’s had little contact. King interviewed with secondary coach Ron Milus on the first day of the NFL combine but hasn’t spoken with any future teammates.

“I’m extremely, extremely, extremely excited and motivated,” King said. “I’m anxious to go play football now.”