Zack Baun
.jpg) Baun with Wisconsin in 2018 | |||||||||||
| No. 53 – New Orleans Saints | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Outside linebacker | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | December 30, 1996 Brown Deer, Wisconsin | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | |||||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2020 / round: 3 / pick: 74 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||
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Zack Baun (born December 30, 1996) is an American football outside linebacker for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin and was selected 74th overall by the Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Early life and high school
Baun grew up in West Bend, Wisconsin and initially attended West Bend East High School. His family moved to Brown Deer, Wisconsin after his sophomore year and he transferred to Brown Deer High School, where he played basketball and football and ran track. Baun moved from playing wide receiver at West Bend to quarterback and linebacker at Brown Deer.[1] As a senior, Baun was named the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) State Offensive Player of the Year and was also named Dave Krieg State Quarterback of the Year after passing for 1,936 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushing for 1,837 yards and a state-leading 39 touchdowns.[2] Baun committed to play college football at Wisconsin with the intention of gray shirting his freshman year.[3] In basketball, Baun was a starter for Brown Deer's 2013 WIAA Division II State Championship team and he placed in the Division II state track championship in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes.[4]
College career
Baun redshirted his true freshman season after breaking his left foot going into the season.[5] He appeared in 12 games as a redshirt freshman, making 15 tackles (3.5 for loss) with a forced fumble. Baun missed the entirety of his redshirt sophomore season after re-injuring his left foot during spring practices.[6] Baun was named a starter at outside linebacker for the Badgers going into his redshirt junior season and finished the season as the team's third-leading tackler with 63 stops (7.5 for a loss) with 2.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, one interception] and a fumble recovery.[7]
Baun entered his redshirt senior season on the watchlist for the Butkus Award and was voted to be a team captain.[8][9] He was named midseason All-American by the Associated Press and Sporting News after leading the Badgers in sacks (6), tackles for loss (10.5), and forced fumbles (2) through the first six games of the season.[10][11] Baun finished the season with 76 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks and was named first team All-Big Ten and a first team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.[12]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2+3⁄8 in (1.89 m) |
238 lb (108 kg) |
32+3⁄4 in (0.83 m) |
9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.65 s | 4.31 s | 7.00 s | 32.5 in (0.83 m) |
9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) |
24 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine[13] | ||||||||||||
Baun was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round with the 74th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.[14] Baun made his debut on September 21, 2020 on Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders, playing on special teams.[15]
References
- ^ Van Vooren, Tim (September 20, 2018). "UW linebacker growing on the field and on campus: 'It's important to not be 1-dimensional'". Fox6Now.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Teitz, Steven (December 10, 2014). "Baun found a home, athletic success at Brown Deer". WhitefishBayNow.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Kocorowski, Jake (October 26, 2014). "Wisconsin football recruiting: Brown Deer ATH Zack Baun accepts grayshirt offer as Badgers' 20th commit for 2015". Buckys5thQuarter.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Vazquez, Raul (October 3, 2019). "Zack Baun's development, leadership fuels Wisconsin's top-ranked defense". The Daily Cardinal. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- ^ Taylor, John (August 29, 2017). "Another Wisconsin linebacker lost for season with injury". NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ "UW linebacker Zack Baun is out indefinitely with left foot injury". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. April 10, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Becker, Brian (July 29, 2019). "Most Indispensable Badger - No. 6 Zack Baun". Badgers Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Barney, Erin (July 22, 2019). "Baun named to Butkus Award watch list". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ Jenkins, Keith (September 15, 2019). "Zack Baun emerging as leader for stout Wisconsin defense". Yahoo Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- ^ Russo, Ralph. "AP Midseason All-America Team: Burrow, Taylor lead 1st team". wfmz.com.
- ^ Bender, Bill. "Sporting News 2019 midseason All-Americans". SportingNews.com.
- ^ Wilde, Jason (February 29, 2020). "For ex-Badgers linebacker Zack Baun, combine is a place where everybody knows your name". NewsOnTheNeck.com. The State Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ "Zack Baun Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints select Zack Baun with the 74th pick". New Orleans Saints.com. April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ Mocklin, Anthony (September 24, 2020). "New Orleans Saints rookie roundup: Week 2 at the Las Vegas Raiders". CanalStreetChronicles.com. SB Nation. Retrieved September 30, 2020.