A Vikings Defender’s Roster Spot Could Be Hanging on by a Thread
The 2025 NFL Draft must have arrived as bittersweet news for some players on the roster. The competitors will be thrilled to see the team add talent that can push them toward the larger goal — winning the Super Bowl — and yet for the some the infusion of young talent means sitting in a precarious position, at least in terms of one’s job security.
A Vikings defender who could be feeling even more pressure going into the 2025 offseason is soon-to-be fourth-year linebacker Brian Asamoah. He was chosen back in the much-criticized 2022 NFL Draft as a 3rd-Round pickup. More specifically, he arrived at No. 66 overall, which is a reasonably high draft placement for an off-ball linebacker. So far, Mr. Asamoah has struggled to live up to expectations.
A Vikings Defender & The Uphill Battle to Make the Team
Toward the end of the 6th in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Vikings opted for linebacker Kobe King of Penn State.
At Penn State, King put up some impressive numbers in 2024. The 6’1″ defender who comes in at 243 pounds played in sixteen games, piling up 97 tackles, 3 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 1 pass defended, and 1 forced fumble.
The folks at PFF gave him an 83.6 grade, a rock-solid number that suggests he played some high-level ball.
Consider what the site had to say about the linebacker: “King looks and plays like a true middle linebacker, with a strong frame and reliable tackling. He lacks starting-level athleticism, and if he’s even a tick late to process, he’s likely losing that rep. Still, he could be a solid depth piece who isn’t shy about meeting the position’s physical demands.”
Safe to say that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a higher evaluation of Kobe King. Consider what the GM had to say in the post-draft presser about the linebacker’s potential: “Really excited to add him. A lot of times in football, we make it harder than it is, but it’s a meat and potatoes game at some positions, and linebacker is one of ’em […] He’s somebody that plays with range, tackles, he’s a really physical knock back, impact tackler.” Not long afterwards, Adofo-Mensah refers to him as “potentially [being] a starter one day in this league” while also praising his on-field communication, suggesting that King is an intelligent player who processes the game well.
Now, how do these brief thoughts come into play for the Minnesota Vikings?
Start off with how the hierarchy currently stands. At the very top is Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace Jr. Neither is going to be dislodged from the LB1 and LB2 spots unless something totally unforeseen happens. Worth noting, however, that each missed time last season due to injury, making the LB3 spot quite important. Linebacker is a rugged position, one that puts huge demands on the players who occupy that spot. Having beefy depth is therefore vital.
Last season, Kamu Grugier-Hill hopped into all seventeen games — starting once on defense — while picking up 179 snaps for Brian Flores. Back in 2023, the Vikings’ LB3 was Troy Dye, someone who played in fifteen games and started a pair. He picked up 112 snaps for Mr. Flores.
The safest guess for 2025 is that Eric Wilson is being viewed as the LB3. The accomplished veteran — originally a Vikings UDFA pickup — played for the Packers last year, starting twelve of the seventeen games in 2024. Along the way, there were 72 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 QB hits, 7 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble. He snagged those stats while picking up 558 defensive snaps and 321 special teams snaps.
Oh, and one more thing: his deal to come to Minnesota is sitting at a single season for $2.6 million, with $2 million guaranteed. That’s not a deal being given to someone who is expected to be buried on the depth chart. Instead, it’s for someone who is being looked at as the LB3.
Within the past two seasons — ones where the linebacker depth took a hit due to injuries to top options — Brian Asamoah barely played on defense. The depth player jumped into 36 snaps on defense in 2023 and 33 snaps on defense in 2024. In neither season did be earn a start. In fact, he has never earned a start on defense, seeing his defensive snaps decline every season.
Asamoah’s most prominent role isn’t for Brian Flores but, rather, for Matt Daniels (the special teams coordinator). Back in 2022, Asamoah picked up 285 special teams snaps (61%); back in 2023, Asamoah picked up 196 special teams snaps (61%); back in 2024, Asamoah set a career-high by jumping into 321 special teams snaps (71%).
Part of the issue for Brian Asamoah is that his competition isn’t constrained to just linebackers. If the trend continues that he’s a linebacker who doesn’t play linebacker, then his main contributions arrive via special teams. That means he’s now competing for a final roster spot with guys like defensive back Tavierre Thomas, tight end Ben Yurosek, and receiver Tim Jones (among others). Does that make sense? If there’s little-to-no-role on defense, then not only is Kobe King capable of squeezing out Asamoah, but so too are some of the other depth options since they’re all competing for the same special teams snaps.
If, in the end, both of Eric Wilson and Kobe King prove to be better linebackers while other roster players prove capable of stepping into large special teams roles, then Mr. Asamoah could face an uphill battle while trying to secure a roster spot in 2025. He’ll need to have an excellent spring and summer, overcoming the doubt that exists while pushing his game to new heights.
Fast and physical, Asamoah still has upside as a 25-year-old defender.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.