By Jonah Casel ‘27 (Reporter)
Any fan who has watched the Philadelphia Eagles play defense recently would note how much of a drastic improvement the team has achieved since last season’s disappointing performance. In 2023-24, the Eagles had one of the five worst defenses in the entire league, a disaster and a massive step down from their conference-winning defense from a year prior. However, in 2024-25, Philadelphia flipped the script. In the regular season, the Eagles finished with the number one defense in allowing yards and the number two defense in allowing points. They neutralized their opponents’ top players, no matter who they faced, and they have proven to be a terrifying threat to any team who comes into Lincoln Financial Field for any game.
The incredible turnaround was no accident for Philadelphia. The Eagles’ General Manager, Howie Roseman, came into the 2024 offseason ready to make changes. After being eliminated from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion, Roseman hired a veteran defensive mind, Vic Fangio, to be the Eagles’ Defensive Coordinator for the 2024-25 season. When free agency began, Roseman made move after move, and each one bolstered the roster with more depth and talent. He signed big-name veterans to the defense, like C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Bryce Huff, as well as rookies like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Each of these impressive additions caused Eagles fans to have hope that their defense would finally be able to play good coverage, pressure the opposing Quarterback, and make important tackles. The big-name moves were more exciting at the time, but no signing has worked out better for the Philadelphia Eagles than Zack Baun, an outside linebacker, picked in the third round by the New Orleans Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft. Baun was unknown at the time of his signing with the Eagles, and he saw limited playing time with the Saints, only tallying fourteen starts in four seasons and contributing two sacks as a pass rusher. The Eagles signed Baun on March 15, 2024, to a one-year deal, and never looked back from there.
Since his signing with Philadelphia, Baun’s career has taken a massive turn for the better. In the spring, Baun worked with Vic Fangio to change his position from outside linebacker to inside linebacker, a change unforeseen by Baun himself. In an interview, he revealed that he asked Coach Fangio in the Spring when he was going to take snaps at the outside linebacker position. He never received those snaps, and the position change and coaching ignited Baun’s potential as a football player. He began the season as one of the Eagles’ starting middle linebackers. Fans were skeptical because Baun had primarily been an outside linebacker for his entire NFL career, but the Wisconsin alumnus began the season with a bang. In his first game as an Eagle, he had the best game of his career, putting fans and the media on notice. He made fifteen tackles, while adding two sacks on top, including the game-winning sack as time ran out. In the rest of the 2024-25 regular season, Baun lit up the stat sheet for the Eagles, forcing five fumbles and making over a hundred tackles. A viewer would not be able to watch a game without seeing the impact he made on defense. Baun’s incredible season has lodged him firmly into the Eagles’ history books as the first Eagles linebacker to be nominated as a First Team All-Pro since Jeremiah Trotter earned the honor in 2000. Baun also became a Pro Bowler and is expected to receive votes for the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year award at the NFL Honors.
Baun’s career resurgence and underdog story represent everything great about sports. He was given an opportunity to turn around his career and make a name for himself in Philadelphia, and he took it. Zack Baun has ended a two-decade-long streak of inconsistent play at linebacker for the Eagles, and he looks to begin a new streak of fantastic play at the position. General Manager Howie Roseman has expressed interest in extending Baun’s contract, and Baun has absolutely earned every penny he will receive in this extension. The Eagles have another superstar player on their roster, and Zack Baun’s story is the perfect model that anyone can succeed in the right situation.
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