EAGAN, Minn. — Only a dozen or so players remained on the Vikings practice fields when No. 41 walked off.
Standing in a skin-tight Purple long-sleeve T, after peeling off his white jersey, with a black skull cap and silver chain around his neck, sixth-round rookie linebacker Kobe King wiped sweat and caught his breath.
Football returned Friday to Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, and mellow temps met Minnesota's 2025 Draft Class, plus 20 undrafted free agents and 20 tryout-ees to begin rookie minicamp.
For an hour-and-a-half, the group shuffled through all kinds of positional drills and competed in a 7-on-7 session that pitted quarterbacks and offensive skill players against linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.
In one sequence, and right after UDFA cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn got his hands on the football, King intercepted a short pass in the hook/curl zone and trotted the other way for his first practice pick six.
It was a welcome sign for a player who prides himself on thwarting the run and is keenly aware he can dial more into his pass assignments. The successful snap, also, didn't stop King, who realized his NFL dream almost exactly two weeks ago, from doing more.
The sturdy 6-foot-1, 236-pound linebacker pushed his conditioning at the end of practice, getting in additional sprints while some retreated to air conditioning, and thus standing out as an E.W.G. (Extra-Work Guy).
In a chat afterwards with local media, King downplayed his whirlwind of events since getting "the call."
"I've been embracing the process, trusting in my building, my training, you know, it's a process," King remarked. "But it ain't been as rocky as people would expect. It's been a smooth process for me, really."
King didn't seem to be kidding, nor did his fitting in on the field signal an impression of being overwhelmed.
Over two on-field sessions and numerous meetings that make up rookie minicamp, King has a goal to gain trust, something that Minnesota demonstrated it has in him by drafting him – but he wants to grow.
"[My goal is] to go out there, show my teammates and the club that they can trust me, that they can have confidence in me, and just, you know, evolve my pass-game effectiveness," he said. "I'm very effective in both aspects of the game, but, you know, there's still areas to improve.
"But I'm a dominant player," King added, noting his attitude matches his play. "I approach the game the right way. My demeanor is the right way. And when it's time to be counted on, guys can count on me."
In Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's post-draft press conference, he highlighted King's throwback-esque skill set and praised the job he did of moving around Penn State defenders before snaps.
According to Pro Football Reference's listing, King is the 73rd linebacker drafted out of Penn State, which has a substantial claim to the "LBU" aka "Linebacker University" title. Adofo-Mensah, however, didn't foresee King's availability all the way down at No. 201 when his staff was calculating player probabilities.
"Through some of our simulation exercises, we saw that he potentially would be available; we didn't think where we got him, but in other places," Adofo-Mensah shared. "Honestly, I watched him, [and] I said, 'There's no way he'll be there when this projection says he will be.' Sometimes you get lucky."
Throw King into the crowd of amazement, as well. On the phone together, there was a hunch.
"You hear it in their voice that they also don't think they should have been there," said Adofo-Mensah, recalling his Draft Day 3 conversation. "That gets you pretty fired up to bring them over to Minnesota."
To the Vikings, King brings high-level leadership. He's admittedly not the most rah-rah player, but he's a proven communicator – and his play style fits the bill of Brian Flores' defense: tenacious, intelligent and versatile. That latter prong is what King appears most determined to expand, as he mentioned honing his pass-game responsibilities with improved footwork, proper eye placement and trust in his initial reads.
After the draft, Adofo-Mensah simplified the pick of King: "A lot of times in football we make it harder than it is," he said, "but it's a meat-and-potatoes game in some positions, and linebacker is one of them.
"He's a really physical, knock-back, impact tackler, and we're excited to add him," Adofo-Mensah continued, "not just to our fourth-down units but potentially to be a starter one day in this league."
King said of his mentality: "It looks like hunger. It looks like anger. It looks like the eye of the tiger when you line up against me. It looks like I'm vicious out there. … Sometimes, I take it as disrespect when guys do run the ball my way or when they do pass my way. But when they do, I make an impact on it."
At Penn State, King's instincts and downhill compass resulted in 200 tackles (113 solo), 19 for a loss and 4.5 sacks. In Minnesota, he's off to a good start with coaches and can't wait to glean their knowledge.
"Man, I feel like they like me, I like them. We're gonna continue to build that relationship. And you know," said King before pausing for emphasis and ripping a big smirk, "I'm a Viking now. That's really it."
If King's dominant mindset or E.W.G. habits after his first practice are any indication, there's tremendous potential for the former Nittany Lion-backer to become the most well-rounded version of himself, yet.
"I made a good play out there," King reflected on his pick, "but [there] was still some room for me to grow within that play, within that drive; made some mistakes, got past it, grew on it, and learned. So, about to go in and attack the meetings, correct things I need to correct, and come out better tomorrow."
