Minnesota Vikings

Vikings select Mizzou LB Kentrell Brothers in 5th round of NFL Draft

Published Apr. 30, 2016 3:03 p.m. ET

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The Minnesota Vikings selected former Missouri linebacker Kentrell Brothers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

Brothers made 274 tackles over the past two seasons, including 152 last year to earn second-team All-America honors.

Brothers, listed at 6-foot and 245 pounds, led the FBS level with 152 total tackles last season. He sure didn't sound worried about his below-average size.

"I'm able to stay low on long linemen. I'm able to hit low on running backs," Brothers said. "I just don't see that as a disadvantage as a lot of other people do."

Here is his STATS Inc. pre-draft bio:

One could make the argument that Brothers was the most productive linebacker in the FBS as a senior, but there are aspects of his game that are likely to keep him from jumping beyond the middle of the second round. Starting with the positives, Brothers' 274 tackles over the last two seasons at Missouri were the most in college football with 152 of them coming in 2015. The average of 12.7 per game led the nation and helped earn Brothers a second-team All-America selection. He does it with exceptional vision and positioning while picking the right routes to get to the ball, and his ability to find seams is further supported by the fact that he alone blocked three kicks in 2015. As a comparative, in the SEC, his tackle total was good enough to finish 50 ahead of likely first-rounder Reggie Ragland of Alabama in three fewer games. Ragland could to be the only inside linebacker taken ahead of Brothers, and what limits Brothers' draft stock is athleticism that might give NFL teams pause on whether he can transition his production to the next level. His 4.89-second time in the 40-yard dash drove that point home, calling into question his ability to arrive at the perimeter on time and be effective in man coverage. That concern isn't helped by the fact that his 6-foot height and 30 3/4-inch arm length are slightly undersized for the position. Nevertheless, Brothers turned in top-performer efforts at the NFL scouting combine in the three-cone drill (6.99 seconds) and 20-yard shuttle (4.11).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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