Vikings’ Defender Gets Essential Career Reset
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was hired as Vikings GM in the 2022 offseason, and, 40 months later, it’s fair to concede that his first draft in charge was a disaster. Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. didn’t work out at all, and Ed Ingram was benched in his third season with the Vikings. Adofo-Mensah’s three picks from rounds one and two are off the team. On Tuesday, the third-rounder was axed, too.
Vikings’ Defender Gets Essential Career Reset
Brian Asamoah, the linebacker out of Oklahoma, was waived, the team announced: “The Vikings on Tuesday announced they have waived linebacker Brian Asamoah II.”
Selected with the 66th overall pick, the defender was supposed to be the future of Minnesota’s linebacker position, as starters Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks were not getting any younger. As one of those modern-day linebackers who are built like a safety (he’s 6’0″ and 226 lbs), Asamoah entered the league with the promise of being a rangy and quick linebacker.
In his rookie season, he couldn’t enter the lineup as the previously mentioned starters stayed healthy throughout the season, but Asamoah showed flashes as a rotational player. In fact, his coaches claimed they would find some available reps for the rookie to give the other two guys a breather—a classic win-win situation.
After his rookie season, however, Ed Donatell was fired, and Brian Flores arrived. The new defensive coordinator didn’t trust Asamoah at all, first giving the starting job to undrafted rookie Ivan Pace rather than promoting the sophomore, and in year two, he hired Kamu Grugier-Hill to be the backup behind Pace and Cashman. This offseason, Eric Wilson replaced Grugier-Hill as the third linebacker in the mix.
To make the situation even worse, for the second time in his four-year tenure, Adofo-Mensah drafted a linebacker. Kobe King joined the LB group in the sixth round, and Asamoah’s clock had been ticking since that point. Usually, teams don’t axe rookies, especially if the competition has not played a role under the current coaching staff, and keeping only four linebackers on the roster is the standard.
Vikings Territory’s Dustin Baker noted, “Almost every fan and purple writer/analyst had forecasted Asamoah’s release. Why? Well, the team doesn’t use him on defense — outside of a few sweet plays as a rookie in 2022 — and habitually finds ‘another guy’ to play middle linebacker when injuries emerge. For example, rather than letting Asamoah accrue playing time during the 2023 season, Minnesota quickly signed Anthony Barr to fill those snaps. Last year, veteran Kamu Grugier-Hill seized the role that many thought Asamoah would handle when drafted in 2022.”
In his three seasons with the Vikings, Asamoah appeared in 46 games and logged 30 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Most of his snaps in the past two years came on special teams. He ultimately played 802 snaps in the third phase and only 188 on defense.
The defender also appeared in the preseason opener, actually starting with a pretty nice tackle for loss when he shot through the hole and made the play. He was on the field for 29 snaps, 23 of those on defense.
The early release provides Asamoah a nice head start with his next team. Someone will surely pick up the former third-rounder based on his skills on special teams or his draft pedigree. By cutting him now, way ahead of the cutdown day on August 26, the linebacker has a couple of extra weeks to learn the playbook of his new team and even audition for a roster spot in practice and a couple of preseason contests.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.