The New York Giants’ defense aims to be among the best in the NFL this season after adding some premier talent in the offseason. Chief among those additions is star pass-rusher Brian Burns who has been “unblockable” at training camp.
Brian Burns had a three-sack performance at Sunday’s practice
The Giants had a light practice day on Sunday morning as they prepared for joint practices with the Detroit Lions this week. Despite the slow practice, Burns was able to make some noise.
According to Connor Hughes of SNY, Burns was “unblockable” on Sunday as he totaled three sacks during team drills, “ruining the offense.”
Burns has been dueling it out with second-team All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas during practice. Thomas praised Burns on Sunday, saying he is “obviously a talented player” who is pushing all of the tackles he goes against (via SNY).
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The Giants’ pass rush could be deadly in 2024-25
Burns headlines a three-headed monster on the defensive line for Big Blue. Alongside him is interior pass-rusher Dexter Lawrence, who was named a second-team All-Pro last season and just came in at No. 24 on the NFL’s Top 100 list, which is voted on by the players.
Opposite Burns is third-year pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux who really came into his own last season with a career-high 11.5 sacks. Thibodeaux does need to play with more consistency, however, as he generated only 43 pressures across 981 total snaps on the season.
Playing in a defense with Burns should create more production from Thibodeaux. Opposing offenses will key in on slowing Burns down, leaving Thibodeaux with more one-on-one pass-rushing opportunities, and vice versa once offenses plan to slow him down.
With the Burns-Lawrence-Thibodeaux trio in place (plus Azeez Ojulari as a decent rotational rusher), the Giants could have one of the most formidable pass rushes in the NFL this season. Burns has had 7.5 sacks or more in every season of his career including a career-high 12.5 in 2022. If he can live up to the “unblockable” label, the rest of the Giants’ pass-rushers will become more productive as well, giving the defense a lethal capability.
