Brian Burns is going to get his proper respect from national NFL media some day. That day has not yet come, apparently. All summer Burns has been getting some questionable rankings when analysts list the best edge defenders in the league today. He’s already been left off top-10 lists by both ESPN and Touchdown Wire.
Today’s slight comes from Pro Football Focus, which has ranked Burns No. 19 at his position.
“Burns is another edge defender from the 2019 draft class who made major strides in his second season in the NFL. Most of his improvement came as a pass-rusher, where Burns improved his pass-rushing grade from 68.7 in 2019 to 86.9 last year. He was particularly difficult to slow down on third down. Burns’ 22.1% pressure rate on third down in 2020 was second among edge defenders with at least 50 pass-rush opportunities behind only Shaquil Barrett.”
It’s hard to understand why so many of the advanced stats indicate Burns is an underrated superstar in the making and he keeps getting overlooked like this. While it’s true there’s probably more top-end talent on the edge than any other position in football right now, Burns deserves far more recognition than he’s been getting.
The numbers and the rankings might lie, but the tape does not. Burns is as disruptive as any defensive end in the NFL.
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