The latest off-ball linebacker to enter the NFL out of “Linebacker U,” Kobe King during the combine relayed a chat he had with management of an unnamed NFL team.
King is an old-school style inside linebacker who’s hoping to enter the league just as old-school is coming back into fashion again.
“The game is kind of reverting back to the old playing style with a lot of running backs getting recognition again,” said King, a two-year starting middle linebacker at Penn State. “I think it will get back to where it was back in the day with bigger linebackers needed to fill the gaps and make tackles and stop running backs.”
The Minnesota Vikings apparently value such linebackers. They selected the 6-foot-1, 236-pound King in the sixth round with the 201st overall pick of the draft on Saturday. King is coming off a redshirt junior season in which he was a second-team all-Big Ten honoree for a Nittany Lions team that advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
King in 2024 had 97 tackles — 53 solo, 8½ for loss, three for sacks — in addition to a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Though King could be limited on passing downs by questionable skills in coverage, he’s viewed as a plus defender against the run who — at worst — can excel as a core special-teams player in the pros.
King came to Penn State along with twin brother, Kalen, in 2021. While Kalen became a starter as a sophomore and declared for the draft last season — he spent 2024 on the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad — Kobe’s development came a little bit slower.
In the end, though, it could create bigger dividends.
“All my experience, it really starts in practice with all the guys I have competed with there — offensively and defensively,” King said. “But just the experience from my freshman year to the last game I played in Miami (at the Orange Bowl in January), it really was a testament to my progress and how much I’ve grown from my first game to my last game.”
