Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
Before a torn ACL ended his year, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was PFF's third-graded linebacker in the country. Healthy, he's a Butkus dark horse anchoring a deep Notre Dame defense. The comeback is the story.
Before a torn ACL ended his year, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was PFF's third-graded linebacker in the country. Healthy, he's a Butkus dark horse anchoring a deep Notre Dame defense. The comeback is the story.
Through 11 games in 2025, Viliamu-Asa was one of the best linebackers in the country by the grades — 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and an interception, with PFF rating him third nationally at the position — before a season-ending ACL tear cut it off. At 6-3, 230 he's a fast, physical downhill backer who's spent his rehab as a coach-on-the-field mentor. The forward stakes carry an honest caveat: Notre Dame expects him back for the start of the season, but a December ACL means Week 1 availability is worth confirming closer to fall. If he's right, a top-three-graded linebacker returning to a deep room is a Butkus dark horse and the centerpiece of the Irish defense.
How he plays
Viliamu-Asa is a fast, physical, downhill linebacker — the PFF grade (third nationally before the injury) reflects a player who's rarely wrong and always around the ball. At 6-3, 230 he triggers quickly against the run and has the range to make plays sideline to sideline, with the production (7.5 TFL, three sacks, an interception in 11 games) of a complete three-down backer. The honest framing for 2026 is the knee: this is a projection built on elite pre-injury tape plus an expected healthy return, not on 2025 production he was able to finish. If the explosiveness comes all the way back, the ceiling is one of the best linebackers in the country.
The story
Through 11 games in 2025, Viliamu-Asa was one of the best linebackers in the country by the grades -- 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and an interception, with PFF rating him third nationally at the position -- before a season-ending ACL tear cut it off. At 6-3, 230 he's a fast, physical downhill backer who's spent his rehab as a coach-on-the-field mentor. The forward stakes carry an honest caveat: Notre Dame expects him back for the start of the season, but a December ACL means Week 1 availability is worth confirming closer to fall. If he's right, a top-three-graded linebacker returning to a deep room is a Butkus dark horse and the centerpiece of the Irish defense.
Career Arc
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Marcus Freeman
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 1 · 2-deepR04 · Rotational
Rotational. Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Notre Dame | 48 | 25 | 7.5 | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 38 | 9 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 86 | 34 | 10.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 2 | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025
W 34–24
vs USC
2 TOT · 1 SOLO · 1 SACKS
How he plays
Play style
Viliamu-Asa is a fast, physical, downhill linebacker -- the PFF grade (third nationally before the injury) reflects a player who's rarely wrong and always around the ball. At 6-3, 230 he triggers quickly against the run and has the range to make plays sideline to sideline, with the production (7.5 TFL, three sacks, an interception in 11 games) of a complete three-down backer. The honest framing for 2026 is the knee: this is a projection built on elite pre-injury tape plus an expected healthy return, not on 2025 production he was able to finish. If the explosiveness comes all the way back, the ceiling is one of the best linebackers in the country.
Our classifier reads him the same way: is steady in every phase without a signature trait.
2026 Outlook
Notre Dame
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · Notre Dame
Returning around him
- 6 Notre Dame players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -8 net (7 in / 15 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Notre Dame · Last season: 10-2 (AP #9) · Talent rank #9 · 2026 recruiting class #5
Perception vs tape
Through 11 games in 2025, Viliamu-Asa was one of the best linebackers in the country by the grades -- 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and an interception, with PFF rating him third nationally at the position -- before a season-ending ACL tear cut it off. At 6-3, 230 he's a fast, physical downhill backer who's spent his rehab as a coach-on-the-field mentor.
Read the story →DNA match
Player DNA
Balanced Linebacker
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Matt Kingsbury’s 2025 season.
Matches Matt on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Charlie Gray's sophomore season at Marshall (2021).
Matches Charlie on
Differs from Charlie on