Dominant Dozen: From Prove It To Priority: First-Team All-Pro Defender Lands at No. 2

Eagles All-Pro LB Zack Baun proved to be the best off-ball LB in the NFL last season.

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53). / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The best player on the best defense in football that completely shut down one of the top coach/quarterback combinations in NFL history during Super Bowl LIX has finished as the runner-up in Philadelphia Eagles On SI’s “Dominant Dozen,” the 12 most impactful players en route to a Super Bowl championship. 

First-team All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun went from a prove-it contract in free agency to the confirmed priority of the Super Bowl champions this offseason, ahead of a $26 million defensive tackle (Milton Williams) and $19M edge rusher (Josh Sweat).

“Zack Baun was our number one priority in the offseason. And no matter what, we wanted to resign Zack,” team owner Jeffrey Lurie said at the NFL’s annual meeting earlier this week. “I thought it was a real key thing."

A playmaking machine from Week 1 in  Brazil through the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Baun finished No. 4 in the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year voting 

On SI’s Eagles beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen compiled independent lists of the 12 most impactful Eagles players during the Super Bowl LIX-winning season, with No. 1 being awarded 12 points, down to the 12th man earning one point.

Baun finished at No. 2 with 20 points. The Wisconsin product was also No. 2 on Kracz’s list and No. 4 on McMullen’s. 

Receiver DeVonta Smith kicked off the countdown at No. 12, and Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens came in at No. 11. No. 10 was second-team All-Pro left tackle Jordan Mailata, and he was followed by breakout middle linebacker Nakobe Dean at No. 9 and second-team All-Pro WR A.J. Brown at No. 8

Closing the bottom half of the list was superlative rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell at No. 7.

Future Hall of Fame right tackle Lane Johnson was No. 6, and rookie slot cornerback Cooper DeJean kicked off the top 5.

Second-team All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter finished fourth, and quarterback Jalen Hurts got the bronze medal.

Baun, 28, spent the first four seasons of his career in New Orleans after being selected in the third round of the 2020 draft at No. 74 overall. He settled in as a great special-teams player and backup edge rusher who started only 14 games over those four seasons.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman saw similar traits to second-team All-Pro edge defender Andrew Van Ginkel, ironically a good friend of Baun’s and a former teammate at Wisconsin, as well as a player Vic Fangio had a lot of success with in Miami during the 2023 season.

The belief from Roseman was that Baun’s floor was a great special-teamer for Michael Clay with the upside of a versatile edge defender in the mold of Van Ginkel.

When Fangio, whose expertise is linebackers, finally got his hands on Baun, the veteran DC believed the LB's natural instincts as a player were better-suited for a stacked position, something Baun himself was not necessarily on board with.

Fangio joked that at one point in training camp, Baun asked when he was going to get the opportunity to rush the quarterback.

During the season-opening win over Green Bay in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Baun was all over the field with 15 tackles and two sacks. He seemingly never stopped making plays from that point forward, right up until the diving interception of Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX.

During the regular season, Baun amassed career-highs with 150 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, 4 pass breakups, and 3 ½ sacks. He added 32 more tackles – 2 for loss – 2 INTs, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries in the postseason.

Baun finished as the NFL’s highest-graded LB, according to Pro Football Focus, and his reward was a new contract from Lurie and the Eagles with $34 million in guaranteed money. 

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