Panthers EDGE predicted to be an NFL top-100 player by ESPN in 2023 season
Brian Burns is a lot of things for the Carolina Panthers: Defensive leader, locker room voice, and one of the faces of the franchise. Recently, however, ESPN compiled a list of players their analytics department predicts will be top-100 contributors in the 2023 season. One of those players on the list includes Panthers edge rusher […]
Brian Burns is a lot of things for the Carolina Panthers: Defensive leader, locker room voice, and one of the faces of the franchise.
Recently, however, ESPN compiled a list of players their analytics department predicts will be top-100 contributors in the 2023 season. One of those players on the list includes Panthers edge rusher Burns, the team's only representative in the Pro Bowl last season.
Behind ESPN's prediction is the belief that Burns has too much to play for in a crucial fifth season, where he is in a new base defense and seeking a long-term contract extension.
"He's in a scheme where his ability to wreak havoc on quarterbacks will be at a premium,'" ESPN's David Newton wrote. "Playing for a new deal also is an incentive as he enters his fifth season. Despite ongoing negotiations, Burns never thought twice about sitting out, because he sees his potential in this defense. The cost of re-signing him will surely grow."
Burns is predicted to make a large impact in the pass-rushing game. He is one of four players with at least nine sacks in each of the past three seasons. The other names on that list include Myles Garrett, Leonard Floyd, and Haason Reddick.
In the 2023 season, ESPN also predicted that Burns would collect 63 tackles and 10 sacks. He has climbed up the ESPN rankings. Last season he sat at 94. He gained 40 spots in one offseason.
And in a defensive scheme that he says will allow him to show the full array of his football IQ, those numbers may be on the lower end of the scale.
The Panthers are relying on Burns more in 2023. Now, it is up to the new-look outside linebacker to live up to the hype.
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Feature image via Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports.
