Most of the focus since John Harbaugh became head coach of the New York Giants has been on how the Super Bowl winner will make the offense more physical and run-heavy, like his best Baltimore Ravens teams, but Harbs and his staff have something special brewing for Big Blue’s defense, a secret formula revealed by Pro Bowl edge-rusher Brian Burns.
The latter topped the Giants with 16.5 sacks in 2025, despite playing in a system that was considered vanilla under former defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. It’s why Burns is more excited about what Harbaugh’s chosen DC, Dennard Wilson, has in store this year, specifically, what Burns calls “organized chaos.”
The 28-year-old told John Schmeelk of Giants.com on the “Giants Huddle Podcast,” how “It’s not going to be simple for an offense to read or understand exactly what we’re doing, and that’s the beauty in defense in my opinion, and on top of that, you have world-class athletes at our size that can move around and do a lot of different things. I just feel like it’s going to be organized chaos.”
Burns has painted a word picture depicting a defense led by its linebackers. That makes sense given the embarrassment of riches the Giants have at the position, both inside and on the edges, where Burns is a nightmare for offenses.
While Burns is already in awe of the imposing physical profiles across the unit, his linebacker-centric vision also inadvertently shines a brighter light on the main weakness of this defense.
A concern so big even interchangeable playmaking linebackers moving around in waves may not be able to hide the problem.
Brian Burns Names What Makes Giants’ Linebackers Special
The linebacker group was always going to be the cornerstone of Wilson’s defense after he inherited Burns, 2025 NFL draft third-overall pick Abdul Carter and incumbent Kayvon Thibodeaux on the edges. Then the Giants signed middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in free agency, before using the fifth pick this year to draft Arvell Reese with a plan to play him inside.
GettyFifth-overall draft pick Reese is a key part of what makes this year’s Giants’ linebackers special.
Burns is convinced one shared trait makes this group special. Every member stands in the 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-5 range and tips the scales between 243 and 258 pounds.
The similarities prompted Burns to tell Schmeelk, “Me, Tremaine, Arvell, KT and Abdul all look the same, and we can all drop, all rush, so it’s just like you don’t really know who’s doing what.”
Linebackers who all look like they could play each other’s position is going to expand the ways for Wilson to get creative. Burns explained that “when you have those similar body types that can do it all, the offense doesn’t know who’s coming. Like if you have a smaller guy or a guy that isn’t good at rushing or isn’t big enough to handle the trenches, they’ll normally ID him as the dropper and they’ll slide everybody else to the actual rushers. But when you have guys with size like Arvell and Edmunds, you don’t know.”
Keeping offenses guessing is what Burns wants after he chafed in Bowen’s predictable and passive schemes. Wilson can mix things up more often with so much talent at linebacker, a familiar theme throughout the Giants’ rich history of strong defense.
Burns and Co. are reminiscent of the legendary ‘Crunch Bunch‘ of the early 1980s, featuring future Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson, five-time Pro Bowler Brad Van Pelt and veteran Brian Kelley.
It was a linebacking quartet all similar in physical stature and with enough natural versatility to keep offenses confused. Yet, that great unit had something today’s group lacks.
Giants Missing Key Ingredient to Protect Defensive Stars
What the 2026 Giants are missing is a defensive line dominant enough to protect the stars behind them. In 1981, the ‘Crunch Bunch’ had nose tackles Bill Neill and Jim Burt, athletic defensive ends Gary Jeter and Phil Tabor, along with franchise great George Martin, in front of them.
The current iteration of the Giants is lacking star power up front after three-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence II was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals. Lawrence’s absence is compounded by versatile veteran Roy Robertson-Harris tearing his Achilles back in May.
GettyThe Giants still haven’t adequately filled the Lawrence-shaped hole in front of their demon linebackers.
Those factors are why fortifying the D-line is the “biggest remaining offseason priority” for the Giants, according to Josh Edwards of CBS Sports. Few would argue, even after general manager Joe Schoen signed experienced double-team magnet D.J. Reader to replace Lawrence over the ball.
Reader is still a force against the run, while another Lawrence alternative offers a more dynamic playing style. Those things will help Wilson’s system, but the Giants still risk not being able to keep blockers off their destructive linebackers long enough for “organized chaos” to wreck offenses.
Brian Burns Reveals the Secret to New Giants Defense