STATE COLLEGE — Penn State football held its annual Pro Day on Friday, March 28, in Holuba Hall.
Twelve Penn State players made appearances at the workout in front of all 32 NFL teams and countless former players now in the NFL. The full list of Penn State players was Dvon J-Thomas, Jalen Kimber, Kobe King, Jaylen Reed, Amin Vanover, Tyler Warren, KJ Winston, Sal Wormley, Alex Felkins, Julian Fleming, Coziah Izzard and Abdul Carter.
Carter and Warren did not workout, but they stayed the whole time to support their teammates. Out of those that did participate, Kimber and King were undoubtedly the winners of the day.
Kimber was not invited to the NFL Combine in February but he put up a lot of the best times in Penn State’s events. His 40-yard dash time of 4.39 would have placed sixth at the NFL combine, tying him with Jim Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron.
Kimber noted that he used the NFL Combine not inviting him as motivation as he prepares for the NFL Draft.
“I just use it as fuel during my training,” Kimber said. “I knew I didn’t get the invite, so during my training, I just made it a pivotal thing for me to just go out there and give it my all during training, so that when I came out here, I was able to showcase why I should have been invited to the combine.”
The redshirt-senior also showed off in the vertical jump with a 33.5-inch, the broad jump with 10’3,” and three-cone drill which times were not released for.
Another Nittany Lion that made money was King. The junior linebacker had 97 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble in the 2024 season but still had more to prove.
One of the aspects of his game that has been questioned was his pass coverage, which he feels he showcased well during the drills.
“I think I’ve been showing today how fluid I am in moving my hips and, you know, moving within certain drills on the field,” King said.
King definitely showed he could move, his 40-yard dash time would have placed him in 11th place amongst linebackers at the NFL Combine, tied with Oregon’s Jeffery Bassa, another top linebacker in the 2025 draft class.
He also would have placed third in the shuttle drill and fifth in the cone drill.
Kimber, King and the rest of the Nittany Lions will now wait for the NFL Draft where they will hope to hear their name called from Thursday, April 24, to Saturday, April 26.
