Getty Brian Asamoah fires up the Sooners during a 2021 game.
The Detroit Lions are looking for defensive help across their roster, and one of the places where it is most important to get it could be at the position of linebacker.
This offseason, the Lions didn’t add too much to the linebacker room, so the team is likely to look for major upgrades when it comes to the offseason at the position. As a result, it doesn’t seem like much of a surprise that the team will bring lots of linebackers into the mix.
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Once again, the team is using a top 30 pre-draft visit on a defender, and this one is on Oklahoma linebacker Brian Asamoah. Ryan Fowler revealed that Asamoah would be coming to the Lions with a visit after a different visit with the team’s rival Chicago Bears.
After visiting with the Bears yesterday, Oklahoma LB Brian Asamoah has a Top 30 visit scheduled with the Detroit Lions next week, per source.
“After visiting with the Bears yesterday, Oklahoma LB Brian Asamoah has a Top 30 visit scheduled with the Detroit Lions next week, per source,” Fowler tweeted.
Asamoah is a very interesting prospect, and the kind of guy who could make a team look very smart if they are able to grab him and fit him into their scheme. He has speed and has been called explosive for what he does on the field.
“See-ball, get-ball linebacker with an itchy, twitchy trigger and explosive pursuit speed. Asamoah is adequate at reading keys and diagnosing the action with quickness. His pursuit paths to the football are aggressive but they’re lacking in technique to maintain his gap integrity. His playing style is likely to have him around the football more often than not, but consistency in finishing tackles could be an issue for him in the pros,” it was written in Asamoah’s NFL.com profile.
Asamoah’s College Stats & Highlights
The linebacker is one of the most explosive players in the class given his combination of speed and athleticism, and whatever team picks Asamoah will have to find a way to harness his talent. Statistically, Asamoah is a guy who has the ability to put up numbers as his career has shown. With Oklahoma, Asamoah put up 168 stats and 5 sacks to go with 12 tackles for loss.
Here’s a look at some of his highlights while playing for the Sooners:
The Lions have to like this kind of playmaker for their defense, and watching the clips, it’s easy to see why he might make plenty of sense for the team.
Lions Have Major Offseason Need at Linebacker
If there’s one spot where the Lions can look to improve dramatically this year, it is defense. Specifically, linebacker has been a soft spot for the last few years in Detroit, and the Lions tried to rectify that with the selection of Derrick Barnes in 2021. Barnes played fine as a rookie as he learned the ropes, but the fact is, the youngster needs plenty of help to develop as planned in both the draft and free agency.
With few new players added in free agency, could the Lions be players in the linebacker market during the draft? It’s more than possible given the fact that some good fits for what they like to do on defense do seem to exist, and Asamoah could be one.
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