The Philadelphia Eagles meant business. On the day the 2024 season officially began they signed a player they felt could be a difference-maker, who has gone on to reach hitherto untouched heights, impressing week after week with game-breaking plays. It was also the day that Saquon Barkley became an Eagle.
Joining him at his new team on March 13 was Zack Baun. The 28-year-old linebacker arrived with far less fanfare than the star running back (and on a $3.5million one-year deal, far less money) but has made as great an impression, putting himself in contention to be named the defensive player of the year. It is quite an impact for a man who failed to cement a starting berth in four years in the league..
In many ways it is fitting for the veteran linebacker that the Super Bowl is in New Orleans for that is where he underwhelmed after joining the league as a third-round pick in the 2020 Draft. But there is little doubt that he has been a key part of that Super Bowl run, having been given a new lease of life in Philadelphia.
So good has he been that the locals may not recognize him as the player whose departure from Louisiana would barely have registered. In four seasons with the Saints he recorded 60 solo tackles and 28 ᴀssists, seeing most of his playing time on special teams; this year those figures were 93 and 58 respectively. And that is just the regular season. He had two sacks for the Saints, he has 3.5 as an Eagle.
He would not be the first player to enjoy a renaissance after moving to pastures new, but rarely can it have been so pronounced. And for that the Eagles have Vic Fangio to thank.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun has enjoyed a superb debut season with the team
He arrived with far less fanfare than star running back Saquon Barkley (right) but Baun has proven himself just as important for the Eagles on their run to the Super Bowl
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It is hard to put a finger on what caused the Eagles’ spectacular implosion in the 2023 season. But a defense that gave up 4,551 pᴀssing yards (fifth worst in the league) and 35 pᴀssing touchdowns (second worst) would certainly have been near the top of the ‘fix now’ list after a 32-9 defeat by Tampa Bay served as a dismal end to a season that had promised much. The first step of that fix was bringing in defensive coordinator Fangio from the Miami Dolphins.
And Fangio must take credit: first for believing he could improve Baun, and that Baun could in turn improve the Eagles; and second for making good on that belief.
The 66-year-old’s first move was to move him from playing as a rushing outside linebacker to inside linebacker – the ‘quarterback of the defense’ as it is often called, or in Baun’s case ‘the Eagles’ 2024 wrecking ball’, as he was christened by NFL writer Tyler Dunne.
Jason Bell, the former cornerback/safety now a Sky Sports analyst, has first-hand experience of Fangio’s methods and can see them in Baun’s development – though admits to being surprised at how much the player has come on
Bell told DailyMail.com: ‘You know, [his leap] is very surprising, except that I know Vic Fangio. Vic Fangio was my coach in Houston for four years, and Vic Fangio could see someone and find talent in him.
‘I remember some of the comments he made to me about my game, and he was completely right, and he challenged me in a way where I’m looking at myself differently because this guy has been around and he’s telling me, I can do certain things that I wasn’t aware that I could do.’
The 28-year-old is enjoying a renaissance in Philadelphia after leaving the New Orleans Saints
The Eagles have defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to thank for his success in the 2024 season
Fangio moving Baun from rushing outside linebacker to inside linebacker proved a success
SUPER BOWL ODDS
Kansas City Chiefs: -120
Philadelphia Eagles: +102
Anytime touchdown scorer: Saquon Barkley -190, Jalen Hurts -115, Travis Kelce +125, Xavier Worthy +150
Odds are provided by FanDuel and are correct at the time of publishing
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‘So with Zach Baun, he saw somebody, he saw a talent, and he said, “Hey, this guy can play this position. Just trust me.” So he switches positions, and he’s got a guy who believes in him, and that does a lot for you as a player, because it lets you play free. And that’s what Vic Fangio has done to Zach Baun.’
Fangio himself admits he couldn’t anticipate just how good he would become. Speaking in New Orleans this week the veteran coach said: ‘I just thought he could be an inside linebacker off the ball. That’s not what he played [in New Orleans]; he didn’t hardly play at all. He’s done a hell of a job for us. He exceeded my expectations.’
Baun admits that he perhaps let himself down in New Orleans. ‘I had opportunities with the Saints, and a lot of that was on me. I just didn’t take advantage,’ Baun said this week. ‘I didn’t truly know the meaning of what taking advantage of an opportunity was. Honestly, I blame a lot of that situation on me and not being able to progress.
‘Coming to Philly. I had a different perspective. I had gone through that, I had experienced that, and I knew what to do.”
It has helped that both men walked into a defensive room that was full of promise – and further improved in the Draft – but needed to refocus after the retirement of Fletcher Cox and departure of Hasson Reddick.
The secondary was bolstered in the Draft with the addition of cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the first 40 picks (both players are finalists for defensive rookie of the year). Linebacker Jalyx Hunt, who produced a superb performance in the NFC title game, was a third-round pick-up. They strengthened a corps that had been supplemented by the arrival of Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith – two of the Eagles’ outstanding players of this play-off run – in 2023. Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis were 2022 rookies.
Now he is gearing up for his first ever Super Bowl appearance in New Orleans on Sunday
Surrounded by such a young, but undoubtedly talented group, Baun would no doubt have felt like an elder statesman of the defense, but their youthful exuberance, and Fangio’s worldly wisdom produced some kind of alchemy.
Bell adds: ‘I read something he said the other day about playing with Jalen Carter, and you got a guy who’s dominating on the defensive line, just could be the top defensive tackle in football. He’s taking over games.
‘And Baun said the way he plays off of him is different because he’s never played the position before. So they have this synergy that he might not have if he had played that position somewhere else. So it’s worked beautifully.’
It certainly has, with Eagles allowing only 278.2 yards per game – the best in the league, and Fangio a finalist for AP’s ᴀssistant Coach of the Year award.
As well as being in the running for seasonal honors, Baun was the week 10 NFC defensive player of the week. As NFL.com described it: ‘Baun was all over the field and the box score as he helped the Eagles to a resounding 34-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Baun posted a team-high eight tackles, forced two fumbles, had a fumble recovery and a tackle for loss.’
The numbers may have varied each week, but his influence rarely waned.
Baun was recently dubbed ‘the Eagles’ 2024 wrecking ball’ by NFL writer Tyler Dunne
He will look to cap an incredible year against the Chiefs in New Orleans this weekend
Bell is keen to point out that for all Fangio’s vision and work it could only have seen such benefits with a high-quality player.
‘A guy like that is showing not only is he athletic, but he’s cerebral in the game and how he approaches it,’ Bell says. ‘Because to understand that and to play like that, you have to see things before they happen, and it makes all the sense why Vic Fangio believed in him and that transition and that move to that position has changed this defense.
‘They would not be here if Zach Baun wasn’t playing at the level he is right now.’
‘Here’, of course, being Super Bowl LIX, with Baun back in New Orleans. This time his presence is sure to register.
