EAGAN — Jordan Hicks has played nine years in the NFL, yet he was still routinely amazed by Eric Kendricks’s ability to spot opponents’ tendencies and predict what was coming next like Linebackerdamus.
“It was either a feel or a study or whatever it was, nine times out of 10 if he said something was going to happen then it was happening, it was kind of wild,” Hicks said on Tuesday. “It would just be random in the middle of the game like, ‘Watch out for this.’ You’d be like, where did that come from? And then next thing you know it’s happening.”
With Kendricks now in Los Angeles, the next man up to take the visionary position is Brian Asamoah, the Vikings’ 2022 third-round pick who flashed last year in 121 total linebacker snaps. Luckily for Asamoah, he spent his time around the All-Pro veteran Kendricks wisely last season.
“I think [Asamoah] had the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to learn from somebody like that,” Hicks said. “Eric did a great job taking him under his wing and try to pour into him constantly and teach him things, sit next to him in meetings…he’s seen the detail it takes and understanding of schemes to excel at this level.”
Asamoah said on Tuesday that Kendricks’s picture was on his wall in high school right next to photos of other linebacking greats Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis. During his rookie year, he soaked in everything he could from one of his idols growing up.
“Eric Kendricks, I can speak very highly of him, [he’s] a great role model, a great leader, the captain of our team and that was somebody who I looked up to,” Asamoah said.
One of the things he tried to take away from his time with Kendricks was that sixth sense for what’s coming next from the offense.
“There were times I was in the game with [Hicks or Kendricks] and I was like, ‘Hey, I feel something, this is coming,’ and that comes from learning and getting in your playbook and watching film,” Asamoah said.
The second-year linebacker gave a couple examples:
“You see something that’s kind of off,” he said. “The guard is like on his hand and you think he’s about to pull, so you tell the other backer to scoot over a little because a pull is about to come. Or you see this guy is cutting his split so I might get cracked or he might be running a dig or something like that.”
“You have to look at the big picture on the offense. You have to look at the formation, understand why we’re in the call that we’re in versus so you understand the things you could get. They’re in a formation, three-by-one, gun-far, it could be a run schemed to the other side so I’m changing my alignment. Stuff like that.”
It’s impossible to play linebacker without seeing the matrix, like Asamoah is describing. Teams are attacking defenses more and more in the middle of the field and aiming to create yards after catch, which stresses the linebackers and only the high IQ players survive. There were only five LBs who allowed less than 70% completion percentage into their coverage last year (per PFF) and only 10 who gave up an opposing QB rating under 90.
As next man up, Asamoah will get a chance to make his starting debut in a favorable situation. New defensive coordinator Brian Flores was a linebackers coach for the New England Patriots and has historically played an aggressive style with linebackers often playing man coverage vs. tight ends and running backs and firing away at quarterbacks on blitzes.
That fits Asamoah’s skill set.
“He’s one of the most explosive players that I’ve been around,” Hicks said. “It’s honing that into the detail and becoming the pro that it takes to be an Eric Kendricks in this league. He’s as fast as any linebacker I’ve been around, as explosive, as strong, as naturally gifted. Wants to be great…it’s constantly chipping away at the things you know you want to get better at.”
In order to marry his physical gifts with the mental part — something Kendricks did in his second year — Asamoah knows that he will have to spend his time learning from Hicks this season the same way he did with Kendricks as a rookie.
“The thing about aspiring to be a great football player is always being able to come in and learn,” Asamoah said. “That’s what I’m trying to do this year is learn from [Hicks] because he’s been in this league for nine years. Coming in, learning and trying to become the best version of myself and try to get 1% better every single day.”
