{"id":109739,"date":"2025-06-06T23:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/109739\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T23:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:10:16","slug":"can-nic-scourton-become-what-brian-burns-was-for-the-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/109739\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Nic Scourton Become What Brian Burns Was for the Panthers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can Nic Scourton Become What Brian Burns Was for the Panthers?<\/a> originally appeared on Athlon Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers have always had a thing for defensive linemen. From Mike Rucker to Julius Peppers to Charles Johnson, the team\u2019s identity has long been built on trench warfare. That legacy found new life when Brian Burns arrived in 2019, armed with unteachable bend and a lightning-quick first step. For five seasons, Burns was the guy offenses schemed against\u2014Carolina\u2019s twitchy pass-rushing nightmare off the edge.<\/p>\n

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Then he was gone.<\/p>\n

Burns was traded to the Giants in a move that might’ve come a year too late, but left a massive hole on Carolina\u2019s defensive front. Nic Scourton looks to fill the need for the Panthers.<\/p>\n

A second-round pick out of Texas A&M, Scourton doesn\u2019t look like a carbon copy of Burns. He doesn\u2019t move like him either. But don\u2019t let the stylistic differences fool you. There\u2019s a real chance the Panthers found a new long-term edge presence\u2014just one built more like a freight train than a Ferrari.<\/p>\n

Burns vs. Scourton: Different Mold, Same Blueprint <\/p>\n

Brian Burns was drafted in the first round because of traits\u2014elite speed, ankle-flexing bend, and enough raw potential to fill a PlayStation loading bar. He wasn\u2019t a finished product coming out of Florida State. Scouts questioned his weight. He needed to improve hand technique. But the upside was too juicy to pass up.<\/p>\n

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Scourton? He\u2019s the inverse in some ways. The former Purdue standout (who transferred to Texas A&M) has a compact, dense frame at 6’3″, 260 pounds. He\u2019s not going to win a 40-yard dash against Burns anytime soon, but he\u2019s got that violent hands-and-leverage combo that bullies offensive tackles off the edge. His pass-rush style leans more toward power and spin counters than speed and bend.<\/p>\n

Still, both were viewed through a similar lens: toolsy edge guys who, with the right coaching, could become monsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet this guy in the building, develop his technique, and he could become a major problem for offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

That quote might\u2019ve applied to Burns in 2019\u2014but it works just as well for Scourton in 2025.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The Burns-Sized Hole in Carolina\u2019s Defense <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not sugarcoat it: losing Brian Burns hurts. He had 46 sacks in five seasons and was arguably the face of the franchise\u2019s post-Luke Kuechly defense. There\u2019s no one-for-one replacement for what he brought as a pass-rusher who could also chase down runs from the backside and cover the flats when needed.<\/p>\n

That said, the Panthers didn\u2019t punt on edge talent in the draft. Instead, they double-dipped\u2014grabbing Nic Scourton and Ole Miss’s Prince Umanmielen in back-to-back rounds. Early returns from OTAs suggest some favor Scourton with the most potential upside.<\/p>\n

While he might not offer the same twitch as Burns, Scourton brings a different flavor of disruption\u2014the kind that wears linemen down over four quarters. Think of him less like a chainsaw, but a sledgehammer, that’ll just wear you down.<\/p>\n

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Positional Versatility in a Hybrid League <\/p>\n

One of the reasons Scourton stood out to scouts? Versatility.<\/p>\n

In an NFL increasingly obsessed with hybrid defenders, Scourton checks all the boxes. He\u2019s shown he can rush with his hand in the dirt, stand up in a 3-4 look, and drop into coverage when needed. That flexibility could make him a valuable chess piece in new DC Ejiro Evero\u2019s scheme\u2014a coach who thrives on disguising pressure and creating mismatches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe might not rack up 14 sacks a year, but he\u2019ll make your right tackle think about retirement by Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scourton doesn\u2019t have to be Brian Burns to be effective. He just has to be himself\u2014and maybe that\u2019s enough to give Carolina a new tone-setter on the edge.<\/p>\n

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Related: Panthers WR Jimmy Horn Jr. Injury Update After Missed Practice<\/a><\/p>\n

What the Panthers Are Really Betting On <\/p>\n

They\u2019re not betting on day-one dominance. They\u2019re betting on trajectory.<\/p>\n

Much like Burns, who needed time to develop into an every-down terror, Scourton arrives with a toolkit waiting to be sharpened. His hand usage is ahead of schedule. His bull rush is a legitimate weapon. What he lacks in flash, he makes up for in force.<\/p>\n

If Scourton can continue to grow\u2014developing his counters, adding a finesse element to his game\u2014he might not just \u201creplace\u201d Burns. He could evolve into his own kind of menace.<\/p>\n

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Related: Could Panthers Move on From Bryce Young With Stacked 2026 QB Class<\/a><\/p>\n

And for a team in transition, that might be the best-case scenario. <\/p>\n

Bottom line: Burns left a void. Scourton might not be the same type of rusher, but he has the makeup, mentality, and motor to make an impact of his own. And if the Panthers\u2019 coaching staff plays their cards right, they may have just found their “Big Joker” in their pass-rushing lineage.<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can Nic Scourton Become What Brian Burns Was for the Panthers? originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Carolina…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[1483,235,260,2567,7834,7,20444,6,748,236,1470],"class_list":{"0":"post-109739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-brian-burns","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-carolinapanthers","12":"tag-defensive-linemen","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-julius-peppers","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nic-scourton","17":"tag-panthers","18":"tag-the-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114638947905095828","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}