It took a while to really get an idea of what Oklahoma had in linebacker Brian Asamoah, but once he put things together, he took off.

You could almost say that literally because Asamoah can jump out the gym, among other things, and his athletic ability is one reason why he became a name to watch.

A name to watch and now selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the No.66 overall pick in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft.

2021 stats: 90 tackles, four TFL, sack, two FF

Career stats: 179 tackles, 13 TFL, five sacks, INT, three FF

It’s not fair to say Asamoah was an afterthought for the 2018 class, but he wasn’t the big-time linebacker signee everyone had circled.

After redshirting a season, you really didn’t know which way it was going to go for him before he started to assert himself during the 2020 season.

Then that athleticism started jumping off the page. And when you combined that with improved technique and fundamentals, and you understood there was very little chance of Asamoah returning for the 2022 season.

You knew he would test well, and he did. Asamoah is someone who is still getting better, which is a little scary because he’s already put up some incredibly impressive tape.

The question will be whether Asamoah is someone who can stay on the field at all times, no doubt he’ll do all he can to make that happen.

Best game

2021 at Baylor: 27-14 loss. That’s the Asamoah that will get drafted. Whatever happened to Asamoah during the bye week for OU, he was just a changed player when he returned. A lot of OU players didn’t fare well in Waco, but Asamoah was incredible. It goes beyond his 14 tackles, two tackles for loss and forced fumble. It was the way he played and flew to the ball.

He says…

“I feel like my game is completely different from a lot of people. It’s kind of a new thing where linebackers play three downs. I feel like I’m that linebacker that can play three downs. Defend the run but also cover tight ends and running backs. I feel like I showcased that at the Senior Bowl against a lot of good athletes across the entire country. So understanding that my game is completely different from the Micah Parsons or the Devin Whites, understanding that I’m a new traditional three-down linebacker, new-age linebacker, honestly I think that’s it.” – Asamoah