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Brian Burns: The Good, the Great, and the Ugly
Coach Gene Clemons breaks down the tape of new Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns.
The New York Giants' acquisition of former Carolina Panthers edge Brian Burns was a deal heard around the NFL and raised eyebrows in the NFC East. Fans are excited to watch Burns pair with current edge rushers Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Burns brings another element of athleticism to a defense that needs upgrades with guys who can hunt the quarterback. Burns can hunt, and playing opposite of Thibodeaux and next to Dexter Lawrence could lead to career seasons for all three of them.
Although Burns brings high-level athleticism and toughness, there are still things that he needs to improve at to reach his full potential. Let’s look at the good, the great, and the ugly of the new Giants' big-money edge rusher.
The Good: Toughness at the Point of Attack
On many occasions, edge rushers may not be the most effective in the run game. They tend to focus only on pass rushing and usually run around blockers while the offense runs underneath them.
One of the things you notice about Burns is that he is not afraid to turn it up at the point of attack. His long arms and explosive punch can jack up blockers and displace the line of scrimmage. Burns' explosion allows him to get up on a blocker immediately before they can get moving forward. He does a great job at boxing a play in, stringing a play to the sidelines, and handling double teams.
This is the primary function of play on the line of scrimmage, and the fact that Burns does not get washed off the line of scrimmage is a positive. This clip shows him being physical at the point of attack. He does not always make the tackle, but that is not always his responsibility.
The Great: Edge Rush Explosion
The reason the Giants gave up draft capital, traded for, and dropped a massive bag in the lap of Burns is because of his edge-rush explosiveness. Burns has 46 sacks in five seasons. He has never recorded anything less than 7.5 sacks in a season.
In 2022, his 12.5 sacks were a career-high, and in 2023, a season most Panthers fans would like to forget, he recorded eight sacks despite not being in many pass-rushing situations. It is simple: how suddenly he is off the line of scrimmage makes him such an effective pass rusher.
His explosion gets him onto an offensive lineman’s shoulder so quickly that he has to open up his hips to get a hand on him, and when they do, he just bends around them.
Does he have a bunch of counters? No, but that is the thrill of getting him this early; there is still tons of growing for him to do. Now that he is the opposite of other explosives, it can only mean great things for him. These clips against a primary run team showed how he could exploit his limited opportunities for splash plays in the game.
The Ugly: Consistent Hustle
If there is one thing you could look at about Burns’ game and come away feeling apprehensive about it, it would be watching him hustle when the play is going away from him.
One of the marks of the truly special edge rusher is their motor. The motor comes down to desire, and maybe in 2023, it was difficult for Burns's desire to be consistent, but you see him looking at the play a lot when it goes away from him.
Any run play that goes away from him is not just staying at home waiting for any action back to him but rather identifying that the play is away from him and shutting the motor down while watching the play develop away from him.
In the series of plays on this clip against the Falcons, you can see that on many occasions during that game, Burns could have been a factor in a play away from him if he had kept pursuing, but instead, he throttled down.
Coach’s Counsel
The arrival of Burns likely means we may finally see much less of Kayvon Thibodeaux in coverage. In a perfect scenario, Thibodeaux and Burns become your two outside edge guys, while Azeez Ojulari can settle in as a backup for both and a package guy when you want to get more pass rushers on the field at once.
As a coach, you may want to show Burns his effort away from the play and give him examples of the positives when you chase the play from behind or redirect and run toward it. Overall, though, this is a dynamic addition that should pay immediate dividends for the new-look Giants defense.
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