This past week, the panel over at Good Morning Football put the finishing touches on their all-underrated squad. To start their defense, reporter and host Sara Walsh selected outside linebacker Brian Burns—who was also part of an underrated unit.
“This Carolina defense—I’m not sure gets as much respect, as a whole, as what they deserve,” Walsh said. “They were quietly one of the better defenses in the league, and I think that there was so much turmoil going on down at the Panthers—with the coaching changes, the quarterback changes, Christian McCaffrey shipped out of town—and it was really the defense.
“And Steve Wilks was leading that defense and we almost thought he was gonna be the head coach there for a while. And so huge credit to Wilks, but Burns is part of this young core of guys that do a lot of great work down there.”
Burns did his best work in 2022. The two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher posted career-highs in sacks (12.5), tackles (63), tackles for a loss (17), quarterback hits (22) and pressures (68).
Walsh continued.
“And they’re talkin’ about building something special there in Carolina,” she added. “And Burns is one of these guys you build your team around. He’s been a tremendous player. I don’t think he gets talked about enough.”
The organization obviously feels the same way about Burns—who, according to Darin Gantt of Panthers.com, was presented with an offer of a contract extension this offseason. So, with the sides likely hoping to get a deal done before training camp, he may only have a few more days to be underrated.
