Yup, I think this is the truth. Here is how the TE room shakes out:
Traditional TE: Bentley, Ryan, Miki (in that order).
Tweener TE: Kuithe, Lohner, King (in that order).
Last year Miki and King got significantly more playing time because there was nobody else except for Bentley and Yassmin. Yassmin got injured in like game 5 I think, and Bentley was still getting accustomed to FBS level play.
Snaps are definitely hard to come by at the TE spot if only 2 TE’s are on the field, but especially if only one TE is being used. When 2 TE’s are on the field, it will generally be Kuithe and Bentley/Ryan. Bentley or Ryan provide the traditional TE size that is great in the running game, and Kuithe is obviously Kuithe.
When there are 3 TE’s on the field, it will generally be for the purposes of running the ball, in which case it would be Kuithe, Bentley, and Ryan, or maybe Miki instead of Kuithe.
So King cannot be placed into a 3 TE formation because he lacks the size to block a LB or DE.
He isn’t going to take reps away from Kuithe because he doesn’t do anything better than Kuithe except for being a better 50/50 ball guy, but the problem is that there is someone way better at him at that, who also happens to be bigger and stronger, and that is Lohner. King is listed at 6’5” 222. That is way too small to be a TE. For reference, Kuithe is 3 inches shorter at 6’2”, but 14 pounds heavier at 236. To drive this point home, Munir McClain is 6’4” 220 and he is playing WR after playing TE for us.
Iowa State @ 
Utah .
