FSU football sophomore defensive end Brian Burns seems to be the next great ‘Noles pass rusher.
The FSU football defense is expected to be among the best in college football after a strong finish in 2017. One of the reasons for increased expectations was the emergence of true freshman Brian Burns in 2016.
Burns finished the season with 9.5 sacks which led all freshmen on the year, and almost half of his tackles went for a loss which helped him receive numerous All-American selections.
He’s entering his sophomore season looking to improve his overall game, mainly being able to play against run which would allow him to stay on the field for more snaps.
Burns being able to play more snaps ultimately means more opportunities to get after the quarterback.
Florida State Seminoles Football
The chatter is Burns has improved that part of his game and added pounds to his long frame in the offseason to help set the edge against the run. The question is how many sacks could we see from Burns in 2017?
Here are three factors that could influence that number:
- How many snaps he plays
- Several opposing offenses will feature new quarterbacks
- Will teams focus on stopping him due to the impact he had last season?
Thoughts
We’ve already established he’ll likely play a few more snaps this season compared to predominately playing on passing downs last year. The fact that several teams will be breaking in new quarterbacks should play in his favor.
Just think back to Deondre Francois’s rookie season and the number of sacks he took because he held the ball too long or ran right into a sack. The same could hold true for these quarterbacks when they face FSU.
Burns will lose the surprise he factor he had last season because coaches were not aware of his abilities off the edge. Teams could look to chip him or even double team him, so that could affect his sack totals.
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Ultimately, FSU football wants to affect the quarterback by getting pressure and forcing him to make quick decisions. That usually means bad decisions for new quarterbacks.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Burns get 10 sacks this season. If that was the over/under betting number, I think I’d take the over.