Carolina Panthers: Brian Burns making case for DROY

Brian Burns is making his case for end-of-season awards.

If you draft a defensive player with the 16th overall pick in the NFL draft, you better hope he is a good one. The Carolina Panthers took a gamble on Brian Burns, and so far it has paid off.

The defensive and has been a monster for this team. Take Sunday for instance. He recorded one sack against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he also returned a fumble for a touchdown. It was a huge day for a player who is beginning to find his stride. It is encouraging that the rookie is finding ways to make an impact.

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On the year, he is second among all rookies in the National Football League with 3.5 sacks. Only Chase Winovich of the New England Patriots has more with four. Looking at the bigger picture statistically, this is a very solid rookie class when it comes to the defensive side of the football.

Brian Burns is certainly making his case for Defensive Rookie of the Year. If he can continue disrupting plays and getting pressure in the opposing backfield, he could certainly find himself in that conversation come the end of the season. His impact goes beyond the stat sheet. Burns does a nice job of generating pressure and getting the upper hand on his man. He was viewed as Julius Peppers’ replacement (no pressure there) and I see a lot of similarities between the two players.

It will be interesting to see what he does next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay ranks seventh in the National Football League with 18 sacks allowed. In addition they have allowed the fourth -most quarterback hits in the league with 37. There will certainly be opportunities for Burns to exploit his matchups.

It’s crazy to think that Burns is playing so well, and he still has more room to grow. He is poised to be a valuable part of the Carolina Panthers defense for many years. So far, it looks like his hard work is paying dividends. It’s not too often that a draft pick comes in to the league his first year and does exactly what you want them to. However, Burns appears poised to break that sentiment. That is certainly a good thing. I can’t wait to watch him continue to grow and hopefully become a dominant force in the National Football League. He certainly has the potential and athleticism to do so.