Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472993
6 6 A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M LINEBACKERS season in Brooks and Jesse Luketa. Brooks had played the position for all of his five years at Penn State, while Luketa split time between middle linebacker and de- fensive end. King credited those two with having a major role in his development. "Jesse and Ellis were two guys that re- ally took me under their wing and really showed me a lot of things, taught me dif- ferent things," King said. "Ellis tried to drill it in my head that you have to know the playbook like the back of your hand. Jesse taught me to stay humble and stay righteous as a person." Just like at quarterback, middle line- backer is a position where you have to lead in multiple ways. King said that one of the first things he learned from Brooks was that he had to be more vocal, even as a freshman, if he wanted to take his game to the next level. "When I first got there, I would say I needed to be way more vocal, and by the end of spring it showed," he said. "I was more vocal and more straightforward. I'm comfortable around the guys, and I just like to talk. If I'm walking into a room, I like to lift people up." King still makes mistakes, and he's the first to admit it. Some mistakes are more tolerable than others. Inexperienced players are going to get things wrong from time to time as part of the learning process, but there are also fundamental responsibilities that even young play- ers have to get right. Understanding that distinction is going to be a key part of King's development. "I think the next steps are making the mistakes we're supposed to make instead of the mistakes we're not supposed to make," he said. "Also, just learning from every situation from the offense and just becoming one as a whole, becoming a better defense." King's No. 1 personal goal is to be on the field Sept. 1 against Purdue, and there are a number of additional goals that flow from that one. "I want to win a Big Ten championship and I want to beat Ohio State," King said with a smile. "But in the end, I just want to take it one game at a time and cherish every one of my teammates. That's really it." ■ "We had great competition at Mike linebacker between Elsdon and Kobe. And I would say — the staff and managers will tell you this — they probably did better than we anticipated. So, we're a bit further ahead there than we thought." J A M E S F R A N K L I N Kobe King finished his debut season with three tackles and a quarterback hurry. The coaching staff considered using him in the Outback Bowl but ultimately decided to hold him out in order to preserve his freshman eligibility. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL