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Carolina Panthers rookie pass rusher Brian Burns was impressive last year with the Florida State Seminoles and, according to Pro Football Focus, led college football in one key stat: quarterback pressures.
While he may not have recorded many pressures by means of the bullrush – Brian Burns led all FBS edge defenders in total QB pressures during last year's college regular season pic.twitter.com/zLMuU2n70s
— PFF (@PFF) May 14, 2019
Although only one of Burns' pressures came from a bullrush, he did have a lot of success getting pressure, doing so 66 times. Burns loved to use the spin move when he was wreaking havoc on the offensive line and Yahoo Sports points out just how much speed he has getting off the line.
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Runs the arc like a gazelle. Probably the best get-off of anyone in this year’s draft class and possesses the burst and bendy athleticism to run around tackles without them getting a hand on Burns. Long strider who can maintain his width before exploding and flattening fast to the quarterback. Junk-ball pitcher, too – can change up speeds on his rush, use a devastating hesitation rush and countering inside. Sets up tackles well and never gives them a pattern to follow. Uses club, rip and swim moves effectively and probably has the best spin move (his trademark pass-rush technique) in this or any draft class.
The expectation is that he will use that speed to make his mark early on the Panthers' defense. The one thing Burns is probably going to need to do to take the next step is learn a secondary move that he can master. Teams will start to play the spin move and take that away.
If he can move that secondary move, there is no reason that he can't be on the leaderboards in the NFL in quarterback pressures as a rookie in 2019.
