Eagles Film Review: Zack Baun is the team’s most important defensive player

Howie Roseman can’t let Philadelphia’s top linebacker walk out the door.

It’s the NFL offseason, so it’s time to get into the Eagles’ upcoming free agents before we get into draft season. I’ll give my general thoughts and some clips to back them up, then conclude with my overall thoughts on the player and whether he should be re-signed. This time, I will look at Zack Baun. All stats in this one are Pro Football Focus and from the regular season only.

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Zack Baun

Stats

I’m not the biggest fan of using stats to evaluate linebacker play, but I’ll include some anyway. I wouldn’t worry about the missed tackles. Yes, he misses a few, but it’s partly because he’s always flying around to the football. He isn’t the best tackler, but it’s not an apparent weakness. It is no surprise to see him ranked as the best coverage linebacker in the NFL.

Overall

I rarely speak so positively about one individual. I find it difficult to express how good I think Zack Baun is and how valuable he is to this Eagles’ defense. I think Baun’s season was phenomenal. He was everywhere. Summarizing how good he was in just one article is almost impossible.

I could write an entire book on how good Baun was this year. Let’s look at some of his biggest strengths as an individual. This will look like a highlight reel because Baun made so many plays this year.

• The ability to turn and run in coverage? Check ✅ This play is absurd.

• The ability to get out in the flat and make tackles in space? Check ✅

• The ability to run down the field with WIDE RECEIVERS? Check ✅ Tell me who else can do this?

• The instincts to diagnose a run play instantly and penetrate through tight gaps before tackling the back behind the LOS? Check ✅

• The ability to rush the quarterback? Check ✅

• The ability to turn the ball over – by forcing fumbles or intercepting opposing quarterbacks? Check ✅

I think you get the idea. I could have posted a lot more plays, too. Baun was a joy to watch.

Individually, Baun had an unbelievable season. Schematically, he’s the Eagles’ most important player. Vic Fangio is known for post-snap rotation in the secondary. Everyone always talks about this.

This year, Fangio’s success against the run was all about pre-snap rotation with his defensive front. The front routinely moved from 4-man to 5-man fronts to get an extra body on the defensive line. These shifts happened at the very last second, forcing the offensive line to switch their assignments at the very last second. Offensive lines struggled to handle these shifts all season long. The Eagles could keep playing with light boxes but with heavy fronts. It was a huge reason why this Eagles’ run defense was outstanding. Why was Vic Fangio able to do this?

Zack Baun.

Of course, you might wonder, surely other defensive coordinators can also drop a linebacker into the EDGE position? What makes Baun so unique?

How many off-ball linebackers are former EDGE defenders? How many off-ball linebackers are comfortable setting the edge or playing with their hand in the dirt? Not many. Baun’s versatility enabled Vic Fangio to turn this defense into one of the best the NFL has ever seen. Here, he is stopping the run as an EDGE defender.

Oh, and how many can effortlessly drop back into coverage after rotating pre-snap?

I’m not sure there is a single linebacker in the NFL with Baun’s current skill set. Good luck if the Eagles think they can let Baun walk out the door, and Vic Fangio will ‘turn water into wine’ once again. There isn’t another linebacker I watched this year with this skill set. They won’t get another Zack Baun. I can promise you that.

The Eagles’ ability to play the run with two deep safeties relies on having a linebacker comfortable as a traditional linebacker or an EDGE defender. Baun is the defender that makes this defense so versatile.

Jalen Carter may be the Eagles’ best defensive player. I think Zack Baun is the Eagles’ most important defensive player.

Re-sign?

I’m not a cap guy. I’m a film guy. It’s a good thing I’m not Howie Roseman because I would pay Baun whatever he wants. I am not usually that guy who shouts ‘pay the man’ because I understand it is not that simple. I will just say this. Losing Baun would be a monumental failure for this organization. I would have signed him to an extension in the first half of the season. He should not be allowed to walk out the door. It was obvious after 1 week that this guy was the perfect fit for this system. I said after week 1…

I would be willing to spend a ton of money on Baun, but I understand the concerns about his only having one good year. It may make sense to give him a heavily front-loaded contract. Per Over the Cap, these are the top five linebacker contracts currently.

You can call me crazy, but I think Baun is worthy of a top-three type of contract. I would be OK giving him more than Matt Milano. I’ve seen some mention $13 million yearly, but I would be stunned if he doesn’t get more on the open market. Anyone who runs a similar defense style to Fangio’s will be all over this guy. I would do what it takes to keep him in Philly.

The Eagles have historically ignored the linebacker position in order to prioritize other positions. Now is the time to buck the time. It’s time to pay Zack Baun.

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here.