Provos • BYU defensive ends coach Kelly Poppinga has worked with some of the best defensive players in the country.

When future NFL stars Fred Warner and Kyle Van Noy were freshmen in Provo, Poppinga was their outside linebackers coach.

A decade later, Poppinga believes he has another player on her level.

Freshman linebacker Ephraim Asiata has caught Poppinga’s eye – and the coach says he may be a better athlete than the two Cougar greats.

“He’s a special athlete. I actually think he’s a completely different athlete than the others,” Poppinga said, comparing him to Warner and Van Noy. “In terms of his change of direction and his explosiveness, he’s on a whole new level. That’s pretty impressive.”

Warner is arguably the best linebacker in the NFL right now. Van Noy won two Super Bowls and was named to the New England Patriots’ All-Decade team of the 2010s.

When both players were at BYU, they played right away, recording double-digit appearances and a handful of tackles. Poppinga isn’t sure Asiata will make quite as much of an impact in his freshman year. He’s still gaining weight as he continues to recover from a gunshot wound he suffered two years ago in high school. At one point, Asiata weighed just 150 pounds.

But Poppinga still wants to put him on the field. He has the ability to attack the quarterback even from the linebacker position. The pass rush is essential to this defense.

“We’ve got to get him to 210-215 pounds,” Poppinga said. “…Somehow we’ve got to find a role for him. Get him on the field. But he’s going to be a special teams player and the kid just loves football. The weight will come. I think he’s still trying to figure out a few things nutritionally. But he’s going to be fine and we’re not worried about that at all.”