Brian Asamoah will be Minnesota’s most impactful rookie
With Kevin O’Connell in charge, many thought that they would lean into their offense during the draft. Instead, the Vikings went with a mostly defensive approach, trading down to take Lewis Cine with the 32nd overall pick as opposed to taking Jamison Williams at No. 12.
The defensive theme continued into the third round when they selected Oklahoma linebacker Brian Asamoah with the No. 66 overall pick. Asamoah doesn’t have the size of a traditional NFL linebacker but he brings enough to the table to make him the Vikings’ most impactful rookie this season.
Asamoah collected a career-high 80 tackles during his junior season with the Sooners and showed a knack for making big plays behind the line of scrimmage. Although he didn’t have a tackle for loss this preseason, he showed the type of player he could be, flying around the field and ranking eighth among linebackers in PFF’s linebacker grades.
Asamoah has some work to do after grading 173rd out of 215 linebackers this preseason but that’s not what the Vikings drafted him for. If he can come in, create some chaos and give the Vikings another way to get to the quarterback, it should open things up for a dynamic pass rush.