5 biggest NY Giants upgrades from the season-opener in 2023

4. OLB Brian Burns over Azeez Ojulari

Without question, this is a major upgrade for the Giants at the outside linebacker position. When Big Blue traded and extended former Carolina Panthers pass-rusher Brian Burns this offseason, they knew they were going to get a special player at the linebacker position. While Azeez Ojulari has shown bits and pieces of being a solid pass-rusher throughout his Giants tenure, this is no question an upgrade.

Burns, over the course of his five years playing for the Panthers, totaled 46 sacks and quickly became one of the NFL's best pass-rushers. Burns is also one year removed from posting a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2022 and is coming off another solid season for the Panthers in 2023 where he had eight sacks. He also brings something to the Giants that Ojulari has failed to do, that is staying healthy.

Ever since being drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Ojulari has had a hard time staying healthy since his promising rookie season where he had eight sacks, which set an all-time Giants record for sacks by a rookie. Since that season, Ojulari has had multiple stints on the Injured Reserve list for New York and has played in a total of 18 games in the last two seasons. Burns brings much more to the table to the Giants defense and he's in the prime of his career.