A secondary is only as good as its pass rush allows it to be, right?
True. So it’s good the 49ers can sit and wait to address their outside pass-rushing needs until early in Round 2 of the draft.
Some of the big names — Nick Bosa, Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat and both EDGEs from Clemson’s standout defensive line — are gone by this point, leaving Florida State’s Brian Burns as the best option at No. 34 overall.
Burns’ collegiate numbers don’t exactly scream high-quality production. At least not before 2018:
| Tackles | Def Int | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
| *2016 | Florida State | ACC | FR | DE | 8 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| *2017 | Florida State | ACC | SO | DE | 13 | 26 | 22 | 48 | 13.5 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 2018 | Florida State | ACC | JR | DE | 5 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Career | Florida State | 53 | 37 | 90 | 29.5 | 18.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 10/4/2018.
There’s some chatter Burns can wind up squeaking into the back end of Round 1, meaning this is nice value if he falls to the early stages of Round 2.
At 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, Burns has the speed to burst off the weak-side edge, which is something San Francisco has lacked ever since the days of former pass-rusher Aldon Smith. While he might need to add some bulk to his frame, Burns’ ceiling is already showing to be awfully high.