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Young Viking Earns Praise for Being a “Violent” and “Old School” Player
Young Viking Kobe King has his supporters in the Twin Cities.
The linebacker is coming off a successful college career with Penn State. The sense one gets after listening to him speak and hear him described is that he’ll have no trouble living up to the ideas of being an “old school” and “violent” linebacker. As a result, Mr. King should have a role on specials as a rookie and possibly get some work on defense, too. Just how high can his game soar, though?
To a certain extent, one thinks of Ivan Pace Jr. as an interesting comparable. After all, both thrive when allowed to step forward with aggressive physicality.
Linebacker coach Mike Siravo was the one to describe King with the quotes from the title. What makes the coach excited about the team’s new ‘backer? Check out the answer: “Just how physical he was as a tackler, like he’s an old school Penn State linebacker. He hits violent, he brings his hips, it’s painful to watch him tackle. And that’s not around much anymore.”
The coach offered those words more than a month ago. With training camp arriving, a physical player is going to be more at home since the intensity increases. So, too, will the preseason games offer King a good venue to show off his abilities.
Go ahead and ask the linebacker about how he views his game. His answer: “I’m an aggressive linebacker, I like to get downhill. Shoot gaps, play fast, physical.”
The 22-year-old defender was chosen in the 6th Round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He stands at 6’1″ and weighs 236 pounds. He has a sturdy build and should be capable of operating from within the ruggedness of between-the-tackles football.
What remains to be seen is if Kobe King is going to get scorched in coverage.
On PFF, Kobe King earned an impressive 83.6 grade for his efforts in 2024. The major boost to his overall assessment was his 89.2 run defense grade. He dips down to a much more modest 65.4 grade in pass coverage. Note, as well, that he was in the box for 704 snaps versus just 11 snaps as a slot corner.
So, the possibility exists that King ends up becoming an early-down thumper, someone who thrives when he’s allowed to come forward rather than being tasked with dropping into coverage. Of course, his ceiling has yet to be defined, so it’s entirely possible that he grows and matures in his game, proving capable of being an every-down player even if there appears to be a need to work to get there.
At Penn State in 2024, King played in sixteen games. He picked up 97 tackles, 3 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pass defended.
Sometimes, aggression can be used against a defender. Consider an instance when someone fully commits to the move that a pass catcher makes. A gifted route runner could then hit the brakes and move in the opposite direction, leaving a defender in the dust. Just look at what Justin Jefferson did to Stephon Gilmore — a former Defensive Player of the Year and lockdown corner in his prime — for a great example.
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