COLUMBIA, MO. • Nobody in college football made more tackles last season than Kentrell Brothers, but the former Missouri star had to watch NFL teams draft 17 linebackers before he finally got his chance Saturday.
Mizzou’s tackling machine is headed to Minnesota.
The Vikings drafted the All-American and All-Southeastern Conference linebacker with the 23rd pick of the fifth round of Saturday’s portion of the draft, the 160th overall selection.
Brothers led all FBS players in tackles (152 in 12 games) last season. But the 6-foot native of Guthrie, Okla., is shorter than prototypical NFL inside linebackers and ran one of the slowest 40-yard dashes among linebackers at the NFL Scouting Combine.