Could NC State’s DJ Burns Jr. go pro … in football?

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Long before NC State’s miraculous run to the Final Four, an NFL scout living near Raleigh, N.C., sent a text message to his longtime friend, Jim Nagy.

“He was hoping,” says Nagy, an 18-year NFL scout and the current executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, “that NC State got bounced out of the tournament quickly, so he could go over there and try to do this quietly.”

What the scout meant?

He wanted to work out NC State center DJ Burns Jr. … and evaluate if Burns, the breakout star of this NCAA Tournament, had any future potentially playing professional football.

“That’s where a scout’s mind goes, “Nagy adds. “You watch basketball games, and you get really curious on what these guys would look like with shoulder pads and helmets on.”

And in Burns’ case, it’s easy to see why. Burns — the ACC tournament and South Region MOP, whose stellar play has propelled the Wolfpack to their first Final Four since 1983 — is listed at 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds. But it’s more than just the big man’s size that has attracted the attention of football front offices. It’s his footwork, which he uses to back opponents down in the post, and then spin or pivot past them. It’s his deft touch, the array of scoop layups and feathery floaters he’s made during NC State’s run. And despite often being the biggest player on the floor — although he won’t be Saturday, against Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey — Burns is surprisingly nimble and athletic.

Nagy saw all that last Friday during NC State’s Sweet 16 win over Marquette — when Burns only had four points, but tied his career-high with seven assists — and fired off a tweet about his intrigue:

Anyone else having trouble watching N.C State big man D.J. Burns and not thinking about him kick-sliding in pass pro or getting out on pulls? Can’t just be me. pic.twitter.com/QnqSaJ4uDB

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) March 30, 2024

Almost immediately, three different NFL executives — a general manager, an assistant general manager, and a college scouting director — texted Nagy: We’re sitting here thinking the same.

Burns isn’t the first basketball player who seemingly never wore a helmet to attract the attention of football scouts. (Burns did play football as a kid, until he got his first scholarship offer from former Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey. “And then I quit immediately,” Burns said, grinning.) Multiple successful tight ends — stars like Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, and Jimmy Graham — were basketball players who parlayed their rebounding abilities into high-pointing footballs for touchdowns. Hall of Fame defensive end Julius Peppers started for North Carolina’s football and basketball teams.

Nick Baumgardner — who covers the NFL Draft for The Athletic — compared Burns’ situation to that of current Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle George Fant, whom he covered in high school.

“He was a skinny, skilled high school power forward who’d never played a snap of competitive football,” Baumgardner says. “He eventually bulked up to around 230 and went to Western Kentucky on a basketball scholarship as an undersized — albeit really athletic — power forward. He could run the floor, was a good shot blocker and strong defender who always played above the rim.”

“He was 6-foot-5 when I met him and 6-foot-5 when he finished four years of hoops. Nowhere near tall enough to do anything in the NBA. However, George did have nearly 35-inch arms and a frame that could hold weight. He kept his vertical (37 inches) and natural agility with his added bulk and, over time, it clicked. He’d never played a snap of real football in high school, yet last year was his eighth NFL season as an offensive tackle.”

Of course, all this is moot without asking one key question:

Does Burns — who grew up in Rock Hill, S.C., also known as “Football City, USA” — have any interest in making the switch back to the gridiron?

“Zero,” he said Thursday. “I mean … yeah, zero.”

Burns’ coach, Kevin Keatts, also had trouble seeing it happen.

“Yeah, no way he’s going to play football,” Keatts said. “I mean, listen, he’s got a great touch. He’s not that bully that you guys think. Listen, you spent some time with him? He’s a teddy bear off the court.”

Of course, that could always change when NC State’s season eventually ends: either Saturday against Purdue, or Monday against the winner of Connecticut and Alabama. (Burns has strong NIL earnings now, but just wait until he hears what NFL money is like.) At most, Burns has 80 minutes left in his college basketball career … and then he has to figure out what’s next. Burns did say that the Wolfpack’s run — and his role in it — has “helped a lot, for sure,” in terms of his professional hoops prospects. “It got things going a little more than they were.”

“I’m not a basketball scout. Who knows? Maybe this guy’s an NBA player or an overseas player. I don’t know that,” Nagy says. “I’m not saying he’s not. It’s just the curiosity of a guy who’s been an NFL scout for a long time.”

Logistically speaking, if Burns were to pursue any type of pro-day workout, it would need to happen almost immediately after NC State’s season ends. Nagy said it would be reasonable for Burns to take a week to prepare himself — to practice the movements and drills that NFL scouts would be interested in seeing — before a workout in front of evaluators. Any interested teams would then have a week or two — the NFL Draft is only three weeks away — to meet with Burns and interview him. But obviously, there isn’t much turnaround time.

Still: There are enough intriguing physical qualities there to expect NFL decision-makers — like the ones who texted Nagy — to pursue a workout of some kind.

“Everything about those post spins translates to something you’re looking for in an offensive tackle. His ability to reach (length) and pluck the ball from awkward angles (hand strength) to how tight and under control he rotates (burst) before he resets himself and finishes (balance),” Baumgardner says. “An offensive tackle’s pass set against an edge rusher isn’t that much different than the technique Burns uses to shuffle defensively in the lane. The quicker a tackle can fire out of his stance and get into his set – or shuffle – the harder it is for those super-athletic pass rushers to get the corner.”

Nagy’s tweet about Burns has drawn 1.2 million views, and counting. He’s done several podcast appearances since, explaining his thought process around NC State’s biggest basketball star.

That same Raleigh-area scout who hoped to sneak into NC State and work Burns out by himself?

“Now that DJ’s blown up,” Nagy jokes, “that’s not going to happen.”

— The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner contributed to this story.

(Photo of DJ Burns Jr. boxing out Duke’s Mark Mitchell: Lance King / Getty Images)