CBS Sports writer Jeff Kerr just named two-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns the most overvalued Carolina Panther. But his use of the word “overvalued” may not be the one you think it is.
Sticking true to the official Merriam-Webster Dictionary entry, Kerr chose 16 NFC players whose teams may assign “excessive value” to or place “too much importance” on. In short, these are the guys who are too heavily relied upon.
So now that the correlation to Burns makes much more sense given the context, he wrote the following about Carolina’s top defender:
Burns was by far the most productive pass rusher on the Panthers, the only one lined up on the defensive line to have over five sacks in 2022. Marquis Haynes finished with five sacks and Yetur Gross-Matos finished with 2.5.
The Panthers were 25th in sacks last season with 35, so 35.7% of the sacks came from Burns. DeShaun Williams should help, but he’s not a massive upgrade.
2019’s 16th overall pick is fresh off a career campaign. He posted bests in sacks (12.5), tackles (63), tackles for a loss (17), quarterback hits (22) and pressures (68).
But, as Kerr notes, that season accounted for far too much of Carolina’s pass-rushing production. That, obviously, would help explain the team’s openness to adding another edge defender at some point this summer—which may even come after Burns gets some more value of his own out of a new contract.
