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Senior Managing Editor, Giants.com
For the seventh year, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts to help rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions.
On Tuesday, he unveiled the edge rushers, and Brian Burns came in at No. 9 in the NFL. The Giants’ outside linebacker, who picked up his third Pro Bowl nod after a career year in 2025, was one spot behind San Francisco’s Nick Bosa and one ahead of Denver’s Nik Bonitto.
“He was different than in years past,” an NFL coordinator said of Burns, according to ESPN’s survey. “He was more of a force consistently, more of a pain in the ass to play against.”
In his seventh NFL season, Burns set career highs in sacks (16.5), quarterback hits (31), tackles for loss (22), and forced fumbles (tied with three) while starting all 17 games for his second consecutive season with the Giants.
Burns’ 16.5 sacks are tied with Jason Pierre-Paul (2011) for fourth-most in a single season by a Giants defender. His 31 quarterback hits, meanwhile, are the most by any Giant since the statistic started being tracked in 2006.
See who led the Giants in sacks each season since it became an official statistic in 1982.
Burns, voted a team captain last season, led the NFC in sacks and was second in the NFL to only Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, who set the all-time sack record (23.0) in the final game of the regular season. The previous NFL mark of 22.5 was held jointly by Giants legend Michael Strahan (2001) and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt (22.5).
Burns is one of eight players ever to record at least 7.5 sacks in each of his first seven seasons. The others are Reggie White, Derrick Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Aaron Donald, Ryan Kerrigan, and Yannick Ngakoue.
Burns spent his first five seasons in Carolina, where he was drafted 16th overall in 2019. Since then, he is fifth in the NFL with 71 sacks.
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Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) is sacked by New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) reacts after striping the ball from Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, laying on the ground, during an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) ILB Bobby Okereke (58), OLB Brian Burns (0), OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58),New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0),New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51), New York Giants defensive tackle Darius Alexander (91),New York Giants defensive end Chauncey Golston (57) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) during an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 in East Rutherford, N.J. (Kevin Sabitus via AP) New York Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns (0) sacks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) during an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in East Rutherford, N.J. (Kathryn Riley via AP) New York Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns (0) celebrates after a sack during an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in East Rutherford, N.J. (Kevin Sabitus via AP) Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts (1) is sacked by New York Giants’ Brian Burns (0) during the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) sacks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) during an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (Margaret Bowles via AP) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) is congratulated by teammates after sacking Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) warms up before an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Nov.. 2, 2025, in East Rutherford, NJ. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit) New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, scrambles away from New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips, bottom left, and linebacker Brian Burns (0) during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) makes a pass while under pressure by New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) during the second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper) Source: www.giants.com
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