From his new uniform aesthetic to his looming long-term extension, Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Brian Burns is playing one big numbers game this offseason. Oh, and the numbers he played with before this spring were quite eye-opening as well.
Using Next Gen Stats, Around the NFL writer Nick Shook pieced together a list of the 10 most disruptive pass rushers from the 2022 campaign. Coming in at No. 9 is the first No. 0 in Panthers history. Shook writes:
Burns doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Perhaps it’s a product of Carolina’s struggles to field a winning team. Maybe it’s because he plays in a division that was most recently dominated by Tom Brady. Regardless of the reason, it’s about time we start giving Burns more attention because it’s very much overdue.
Burns’ 2021 numbers were solid — 48 QB pressures, 11.5% QB pressure rate, 37 hurries, nine sacks, two turnovers caused by pressure — but 2022 was the season in which he officially cleared the bar to enter this group. Burns improved on each of those totals, save for TO-QBP, breaking double digits in sacks for the first time in his career. He maximized his 16 games played, receiving his second straight Pro Bowl selection.
Those improvements saw the former first-rounder post 62 quarterback pressures, a 12.9-percent pressure rate, 42 hurries and 12.5 sacks. And not only did those marks lead, as Shook notes, to his second straight Pro Bowl selection—but it was also his second straight starting nod . . . even if the all-star festivities aren’t quite what they used to be.
As for Burns’ next number, expect that to be a pretty hefty nine-digit one.
