Has Brian Burns earned Defensive Player of the Year consideration?

Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney has once again proven a true wizard in the first round of the NFL Draft. Brian Burns, selected following the Panthers expressing a need to get younger and faster on defense, has steam rolled over any rockiness the team might have experienced during their transition to a more 3-4 base front. Through five games as a rookie, Burns has posted 3.5 sacks, 14 combined tackles, nine quarterback hits, one fumble forced, and another returned for a touchdown. He has also partially blocked two punts.

Burns was intended to be a rotational piece, along with Christian Miller and Marquis Haynes, behind Mario Addison and Bruce Irvin this season. Instead—largely due to opportunity in the absence of an injured Irvin—he has put up numbers that would be impressive for even a well-seasoned vet. This has Burns planted firmly in the conversation for Defensive Rookie of the Year. But, is that enough praise for the young pass rusher?

The Associated Press has given their Defensive Player of the Year award to four players since 2013. Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald won it in 2017 and 2018. Khalil Mack, then an outside linebacker with the Oakland Raiders, took it home in 2016. Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt doubled up on the honor in 2014 and 2015; and the Carolina Panthers own Luke Kuechly won as the rare non-pass rusher in 2013.

The closest of these recent analogues to Burns’ position is Khalil Mack who had about twice the number of tackles and tackles for loss that Burns is projected to have and the same number of sacks (11). That was in Mack’s third year and playing in a full time role. Burns’ status as a rookie who splits snaps for two positions across himself, Haynes, Miller, Irvin, and Addison, is all the more impressive for that comparison.

His touchdown sprint and two partially blocked kicks are also colorful lines in his 2019 resume, but, unfortunately, they pale in comparison to his chief competition. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett is a name that Panthers fans should be familiar with by now. This is his seventh year in the league and he made his mark this season, in part, by reminding the world that Daryl Williams is not a left tackle. He already has nine sacks on the season and projects to have an unreal 28 by the end.

Barrett isn’t actually going to get to 28, but falling short of that number is still impressive. He will run away with the Defensive Player of the Year votes if he even lands at 20. That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for Burns, at his current pace, to have a real shot at the award. That’s OK. Watching them play, you wouldn’t know that six seasons of NFL experience separate these two players.

Kuechly was the youngest player mentioned in this article to have won the award, having done so in his second year. Watt was in his fourth and fifth seasons, Mack in his third, and Donald was also in his fourth and fifth. It doesn’t matter that his inclusion in the conversation could be like Christian McCaffrey’s in the Most Valuable (Quarterback) Player conversation. Technically in the running in his rookie year is a feat in and of itself.