Cool Clips: The Giants Brian Burns 'Rip' Stunts
Giants' defensive coordinator Shane Bowen used his athletic Edge, Brian Burns, and a simple line stunt to disrupt their opponent's run games.
The New York Giants football team was the center of much turmoil this year. RB Saquan Barkley, who left for free to a divisional rival, rushed for over 2,000 yards and helped get his team, the dreaded Eagles, to the Super Bowl.
There was a quarterback carousel that saw four different players start for the Giants. None were impressive. However, Tommy DeVito did end the year with a 70%+ completion percentage.
The player the team ‘paid’ instead of Saquan, Daniel Jones, was unceremoniously cut after eight games. They even made him play scout team Safety the day before they cut him. Most of the turmoil was displayed through HBO’s Hard Knocks Offseason, which detailed the decision to go with Jones over Saquan.
Not every offseason move in 2024 was a bad one, though. Sure, the hapless organization chose the wrong player to invest in and let one of the best offensive weapons go freely to a divisional rival. That is almost unforgivable, but Joe Schoen did have a tremendous ‘24 draft and made several other key free-agency moves to bolster the remaining roster.
The issue in today’s game is that the head coach/quarterback marriage is the most critical. Without a quarterback, it doesn’t matter. Look at Cleveland, who has arguably had one of the best rosters for the past five years and a quality head coach. This year, the Browns defense, which was one of the best last year, finally succumbed to the other side of the ball’s issues. Now Myles Garrett is asking for a trade.
The Giants, again, will be looking to draft a quarterback in the early parts of this year’s draft. But, looking at the 2024 draft, there are solid pieces for New York to build around.
The Giants’ first three draft picks look to be all hits. Malik Nabers finished as the #11 WR in Field Vision’s Threat Ratings, making him the best rookie receiver in ‘24. Tyler Nubin, their second-round pick, concluded the season as the #18 Safety in Field Vision’s Havoc Ratings. His third-round counterpart, Dru Phillips, also looks to be a long-time starter in New York, finishing ninth in Havoc and the #3 Nickel in the NFL last year behind the Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey (CB1 in Havoc) and the Colts’ Kenny Moore.
The other draft picks weren’t bad, either. TE Theo Johnson (TE27 in Threat) started most of the year and should progress as an athletic receiving piece. Fifth-round pick Tyron Tracy Jr. (RB26 in Threat) flashed while leading the team in rushing. Finally, sixth-round pick Darius Muasau (LB63 in Havoc) finished eighth in tackling for the Giants and was an adequate replacement for Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden when injured.
In free agency, the Giants traded for the Panthers Edge Brian Burns for a second and fifth-round pick. The organization quickly inked a five-year $141 million deal ($87.5 million guaranteed). The move instantly bolstered the Giants’ pass rush. In ‘24, New York would finish eighth in Sack% (7.1%). Combined with Dexter Lawrence (DT8 in Havoc), New York has two of the best D-linemen in the league.
Burns has the unique ability to play off the ball as well. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen utilized Burns almost 50 times as an off-ball LB in ‘24, mostly in run situations.
When at Edge, the Giants generally had him line up on the TE on early downs, which created a matchup nightmare for teams without a true ‘Y’ at TE. Especially when the Giants called for him to rip across the TE’s face.
