PHILADELPHIA – Vic Fangio shared a story last year about how Zack Baun came up to him during training camp and asked him when he would get a chance to rush the passer. After playing mostly on the edge with the Saints, Baun thought he might get a chance to line up on the edge and get after opposing quarterbacks.
The Eagles defensive coordinator shot down the idea, and Baun never asked again.
“One, the guys we had,” Baun said when asked during minicamp why he didn’t press harder. “We were probably good in the pass rush department. Two, I was feeling far more comfortable at that inside linebacker position and just rode that out. If Vic wants to give me more responsibility, I can play more at edge.”
Now, that would be interesting. Baun on the edge would be a creative decision by Fangio. It may also be a desperate one because it would like mean the Eagles are in dire straits getting pressure on the quarterback.
The Eagles didn’t have such an issue last year. Though they didn’t have a double-digit sack player – Josh Sweat led the way with 8.0 – they had 13 players with at least a half-sack. Their total of 41 tied them for the 13th-most in the league.
Baun had 3.5 sacks last year from his inside linebacker post. He posted numbers all over the place, and in many different categories, including tackles with 150. His six forced fumbles were tied for the most in the NFL with Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt.
Baun doesn’t plan on taking a step backward, whether he rushes the passer more from the edge, or remains in the inside linebacker role that saw his career take off.
“Throughout my career, I learned to never be satisfied with where I'm at,” he said. “Before my breakout year, you could have said I made it in the NFL. In my head, I still have stuff to prove, and that's definitely still the case now.”
