|
|
Brian Asamoah II NFL Draft Profile
|
Brian Asamoah II Scouting ReportAsamoah may be one of the best athletes in this linebacker class, and that’s saying a lot. The Oklahoma LB is highly explosive and flashes freaky range. He can close ground quickly and run down offensive players from behind as they turn upfield. When he finally triggers and closes on plays, Asamoah can hit an impressive second gear. Brian gears up incredibly quickly in short spaces, but there’s more to his game than straight-line explosiveness. Asamoah is a smooth and spry lateral athlete. He’s light on his feet and an easy mover in space with twitchy corrective athleticism. He can change directions easily and adjust leverage on the fly. Moreover, Asamoah has exceptionally fluid hips for his size. He can quickly transition and chase, and he can also sink his hips into transitions with minimal lateral stiffness. Asamoah’s athleticism translates incredibly well in all phases. The Oklahoma LB has the explosiveness to be disruptive on the blitz, but he also has the athleticism to feign rushes and shade out into zone coverage. In the box, Asamoah has the lateral agility and burst to adjust his tackling angles on short notice. He can leverage his burst into contact force and use his proportionally long frame and strong upper body to consistently wrap up as a tackler. Asamoah has everything you want athletically, but the most exciting part of his scouting report is that he visibly developed over the course of 2021. When he’s patient, he flashes great processing ability, as he’s able to diagnose plays and close in with quickness. The Sooners product seemed to improve at patiently reading plays in 2021 — an ability that will be vital in the NFL. Asamoah knows how to use his traits once he’s dialed in on plays. In run defense, he generally takes good angles in the box. He can identify ball carriers and swerve in for stops. He flashes physicality coming downhill, and he’s willing to blow up blocks and disrupt running lanes. Furthermore, Asamoah has shown that he can read blocks, surge into lanes, and wall off runners with his frame. He’s able to use targeted physicality and micro-movements to pry himself past blockers. Asamoah’s upside is tantalizing. The Oklahoma LB’s feet are fast and sudden, and he can quickly bounce off his backpedal and close on opponents. He actively adjusts his hip alignment in zone coverage to maximize leverage against routes around him, and he can peel off in coverage and engage underneath routes with force. Asamoah does a fairly good job following the quarterback’s eyes, and he can use his lateral agility to shield receivers. He can also identify swing routes and erase them. Asamoah is urgent in pursuit and a fiery competitor. He’s shown he can wrap up and bring down comparable players without help. Additionally, he has the versatility to occasionally shade out as an overhang slot defender in some alignments. |
Areas for ImprovementAsamoah’s linear growth is incredibly encouraging, and it’s something you can capitalize on early if you’re an NFL team. But Brian still has room to be more consistent in a few areas. In his less inspiring processing moments, Asamoah needs to do a better job watching the ball. He can be easily misled by play fakes, and he can be over-aggressive and give up running lanes by trying to surge into the backfield. Like many young linebackers, Asamoah still needs a better balance of patience and decisiveness. Asamoah can be more proactive and aggressive in red-zone situations, where there isn’t as much time to hesitate. He can also find better gap discipline at times, as he doesn’t always maintain his positioning in run defense. The Oklahoma defender can get re-routed by blocks in the open field retreats upfield to evade blocks at times, playing himself out of position. Asamoah’s slightly lighter frame can make it difficult for him to disengage second-level blocks. When linemen latch on, it can be hard for him to break free. Asamoah’s positioning can improve at times as well. Brian can take better angles in the open field to get around blocks. Furthermore, he overshoots tackling angles at times, losing his balance when he tries to recover. Asamoah gives up too much cushion in zone coverage occasionally, and he can be late to break when shadowing routes, sitting down in zones too early. Asamoah can stand to get a little stronger at the NFL level. He also has room to add to his pass-rushing arsenal. |
Brian Asamoah II Career at SchoolComing into college at just over 200 pounds, Asamoah needed a redshirt year to better prepare for the collegiate stage. The Oklahoma LB sat out in 2018. Afterward, he came into the fold as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He logged valuable experience as a rotational LB and special teams player, racking up 22 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a deflection. Asamoah’s quick growth led the Sooners to name him a starter in 2020. He started nine of 11 games. Along the way, he registered 66 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 4 pass deflections, and a forced fumble — all while earning second-team Academic All-Big 12 honors. Asamoah’s raw talent shined through in 2020, but the 2021 campaign was a massive step forward in his development as a complete football player. Asamoah led Oklahoma with 80 total tackles and logged 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and 2 forced fumbles. He was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and also earned second-team All-Big 12 honors alongside fellow linebacker Nik Bonitto and DT Perrion Winfrey. Asamoah earned 11 tackles and a sack in a loss against Oklahoma State, which would be his final game as a Sooner. Ahead of Oklahoma’s bowl game — the Valero Alamo Bowl against Oregon — Asamoah announced that he’d be declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft. At that moment, he opted out of postseason play and began preparation. |
Brian Asamoah II NFL Draft Player ProfileAn important question to ask in scouting is, “Does a player lack the capacity to perform a certain task, or does he have the capacity but lack consistency?” Asamoah proved this season that he has the capacity to do most of what a linebacker needs to do — athletically and mentally. He has the lateral agility and twitch to maintain positioning in tight spaces. He’s physical and abrupt as a playmaker in congestion. And yet, when he flips his hips, he has near-elite pursuit speed and range toward the sideline. Mentally, things are trending up for Asamoah as well. Early on in 2021, he was too aggressive and pre-emptive with his movements at times, and he’d play himself out of position often. He may have over-corrected a bit later in the year, as he sometimes appeared too tentative. But Asamoah clearly made a note to be more patient and consistent when reading plays. Linebackers shouldn’t fully commit to a play until they know what they’re seeing. Quick processing is necessary to trigger with speed and not to lose ground while reading. Slowly but surely, Asamoah has improved there. He’s shown the necessary processing capacity, and he’s a near-elite athlete with all the necessary traits, physicality, and competitive edge. At the moment, Asamoah is in the middle of a strong crop of linebackers in the Day 2 range. But if he tests well and stands out at the Senior Bowl, he could surge into the top 50. He’s a stellar fit as a 4-3 WILL or SAM or a 3-4 ILB, but he could grow to become a MIKE as well. |
 |