Asante ready to ghost the competition

AUBURN | When it comes to rushing the quarterback, Eugene Asante’s signature move is straight out of a scary movie.

It’s called ghost and he’s worked hard to perfect the move during his career.

“I've been doing that for years since I was at Carolina. I've done that move probably 1,000 times,” said Asante. “I think there was a quote, 'The man that is most deadly is the man that practices one move 1,000 times.’”

The ghost move is a favorite of Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Von Miller, who has 123.5 sacks in 12 NFL seasons. It involves the pass rusher faking a stiff arm, which can trick the offensive lineman into extending his arms, and then dipping under the outside arm and accelerating to the quarterback.

The move helped Asante finish third on the team with five sacks last season from his weakside linebacker position. According to PFF, Asante also had 22 quarterback pressures, 16 hurries and a 73.3 pass rushing grade.

His PRP rating, which combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times they rush the passer, was 25.5, which was second only to Caleb Wooden’s 45.0.

Going into his senior season, Asante is working to perfect a couple of more pass-rush moves in his arsenal: the spin and hesi-bull.

Dwight Freeney, who finished with 125.5 sacks in a 16-year NFL career, is known as the Godfather of the spin move, which looks exactly like it sounds. The pass rusher gets the offensive lineman to lean one way and does a 360-degree spin the opposite way using his outside arm as an “ice pick” to finish off the move.

The hesi-bull, also known as a stutter bull, delays the bull rush for a couple of steps hoping to get the offensive lineman off-balance before driving him back toward the quarterback.

Asante is working with current teammates, Jalen McLeod and Keldric Faulk on his new moves.

“I talk to those guys, J-Mac, Keldric, the pass rush guys, asking them what move can I incorporate into my game,” said Asante. “It's certainly something I want to continue to build upon. I'm going to be in situations where I have to rush the passer so I want to be ready to go get after them and cause havoc.”

For Asante, who is one of Auburn’s top overall leaders on and off the field, it’s part of an offseason that he’s dedicated to honing his fundamentals.

”I think the effort piece has always been there, but truthfully and honestly, I think the fundamental piece hasn’t really been there,” he said. “I’m just trying to clean up the fundamentals: footwork and technique and just continuing to hone in on my coverage ability.

“I think that would help me tremendously and help this defense tremendously.”

Auburn opens the season against Alabama A&M Aug. 31 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.