EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings bolstered their linebackers group with a Day 3 selection.

Minnesota tabbed Penn State linebacker Kobe King with the 201^st overall pick, just one spot before using their final selection to grab tight end Gavin Bartholomew 202^nd.

King started all 16 games for the Nittany Lions last season and totaled 46 games (27 starts) over his four seasons at Penn State. He finished his college career with 200 tackles (113 solo), 18.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and four pass breakups.

Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah called King a "really physical, knock-back, impact tackler" the organization is excited to add.

"Not just to our fourth down units but also potentially to be a starter one day in this league," Adofo-Mensah said. "Great communicator — was able to move people around in the Penn State defense, a great defense in its own right. And then you talk about a great culture and a group there that's been able to win and build something special there, up in State College."

Here are five things to know about the Vikings new linebacker:

1. Has a twin brother on … that team

While Kobe King stayed at Penn State for his fourth and final season, his twin brother Kalen left college a year early and was selected by Green Bay in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Ironic that the brothers landed with rival teams?

"When I got the call, he was like, 'We're going to see each other twice a year," Kobe King quipped. "It just feels good. We've been competing our whole life, and we're still going to compete."

2. Nearly wasn't a Nittany Lion

Some high school athletes know exactly where they want to play collegiately, but that wasn't the case for the King twins.

After playing football and other sports together all their lives, they came close to attending separate schools for college — which their mother Felicia couldn't imagine. Max Ralph wrote for *Sports Illustrated* in 2023 that "Kalen leaned toward Michigan and liked Florida, while Kobe nearly was set on Wisconsin and had wanted to visit Auburn."

But former Cass Tech Head Coach Thomas Wilcher encouraged them to think about their family in making a decision; after making a second visit to Penn State, the brothers committed.

It helped that Micah Parsons hosted the twins on that visit to add the "finishing touches," their father told Ralph.

3. Multisport athlete

A Detroit native, King attended Cass Technical High School, where he was a four-year letterman and two-time team captain in football. Following the 2020 campaign, he earned Division I all-region honors from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association; the prior season, he was named the 2019 Detroit Public School League Linebacker of the Year.

King also wrestled and played basketball at Cass Tech, showing his well-rounded athleticism.

Fun fact: King shares an alma mater with a plethora of notable names in the arts and entertainment industry, including music artists Diana Ross and Jack White and actress/comedian Lily Tomlin.

4. Named for hoopers

King and his brother obviously followed the football path, but both also stood out on the basketball court — and actually were named for hoopers.

Kobe, of course, was named after the late Kobe Bryant; while Kalen's name is a rhyming nod to fellow Detroit native and NBA great Jalen Rose.

5. Helped Penn State break a record

With the Vikings selection of King, Penn State — sometimes called "Linebacker U" holds the record for most linebackers drafted into the NFL with 72.

Minnesota accounts for four of those 72: Walker Lee Ashley (Drafted 73^rd overall in 1983), Michael Mauti (213^th in 2013), Gerald Hodges (120^th in 2013) and King.