Who had a better offseason this year than the Carolina Panthers? It’s tough to think of any NFL team. After the collapse of 2018 and the exits of several important veteran players, the Panthers badly needed to reload at a bunch of key positions. Thanks to a strong free agency period and a good draft class, they were able to do that.
Every team’s most precious commodity is of course first-round draft picks. Carolina nailed that part of the offseason by picking Florida State defensive end Brian Burns, one of the top pass rushers in a loaded class of them. Burns has been ranked the fifth-best value pick of the first round by Luke Easterling at Draft Wire.
Going into the draft, Burns was considered the No. 8 best player on his big board, but he fell to the Panthers at No. 16.
Very few draft picks are ever guaranteed slam dunks like Cam Newton was at No. 1 overall, but Burns has all the tools to be successful at this level. Assuming he bulks up in the weight room before the takes the field, Burns should have no problem impacting the game right away.
