The one Eagles player who is holding things together coming out of bye week for 2024 season
At 2-2 on the season coming off their Week 5 bye, the Philadelphia Eagles are far from the contender that many thought they would be this early in the yeat. However, there's plenty of football left to play and at least one guy that the Eagles can count on to hold things together. And that's […]
At 2-2 on the season coming off their Week 5 bye, the Philadelphia Eagles are far from the contender that many thought they would be this early in the yeat. However, there's plenty of football left to play and at least one guy that the Eagles can count on to hold things together.
And that's linebacker Zack Baun.
Baun has been a nice surprise for the Birds and currently leads the defense with 43 tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss.
His 43 tackles are also good for the top five in the NFL.
Baun was initially selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, where he had spent the last four years before coming to Philly this offseason.
In four seasons with the Saints, Baun saw action in 62 games with 14 starts and entered the 2024 season after logging 30 tackles, two sacks, and four QB hits last fall.
He has already surpassed those numbers after just four weeks.
Baun was used more as an edge rusher in New Orleans but Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw what he could bring to the table as an insider linebacker for the Birds.
Fangio and the Eagles put it to the test and didn't look back. And at this rate, there's no need to.
The Saints clearly missed out on bringing back a great player simply because they were using him wrong, but hey, the Eagles need him now more than ever.
As for the Saints, they couldn't be happier for Baun.
“I’m happy for Zack,” New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen said. “He’s in a scheme and a place where he’s getting an opportunity to get out there and play. And he’s done some good things for those guys. I’m happy that he’s having success. I don’t want him to have success on Sunday, but I’m happy he’s having success.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the Eagles' defense has some catching up to do on defense when it comes to tackling, and hopefully, the early bye was enough time for them to turn things around starting in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns.
Philadelphia Eagles lose in Week 5 without even playing a game
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