Eagles' 'Hit' Is NFC Defensive Player Of the Week

Zack Baun's magical season keeps chugging along after earning NFC DPOTW .

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53)] celebrates with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (8) after intercepting a Jacksonville Jaguars pass. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - A magical season for Eagles' fifth-year linebacker Zack Baun continued Wednesday with his first NFC Defensive Player of the Week award.

Baun was honored for his performance in a 34-6 rout over Dallas, Philadelphia's fifth straight win en route to a 7-2 record atop the NFC East.

Baun, who signed a one-year deal for $1.6 million in the offseason coming off his rookie deal as a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2020, tallied eight tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a tackle for loss in the Eagles' win at Dallas that halted a six-year skid at AT&T Stadium for the franchise.

Baun is the first player since Week 14 of the 2021 season with eight tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in a game when cornerback Mike Hughes did it for Kansas City. He is also just the second Eagles off-ball linebacker to earn the honor since 2000, joining Jeremiah Trotter Sr. (Week 7, 2005).

Baun and the Chiefs' Leo Chenal (who earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week) are both Wisconsin products and join Alabama’s Xavier McKinney and Pat Surtain II (who both won Defensive Player of the Week in Week 5) as the only sets of former college teammates who play the same position to earn Player of the Week in the same week this season.

Overall Baun leads Philadelphia in tackles with 87 and has added three forced fumbles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, and one interception.

Zach Baun has been the highest-graded LB each of the past three weeks 👀 pic.twitter.com/XNvoz817l2

— PFF (@PFF) November 11, 2024

In each of the past three weeks, Baun has been graded as the top off-ball LB in the NFL by Pro Football Focus and is No. 2 overall among LBs with over 300 snaps behind only San Francisco All-Pro Fred Warner.

On Tuesday, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio discussed his decision to try Baun as a stacked LB.

“When I evaluate players there’s no check box, things you check off, you just watch the tape, watch the movement patterns, watch the player play,” said Fangio. “[GM] Howie [Roseman] brought him up to me first, but he had a vision for him as a backup outside linebacker, special teams’ demon. After I watched it, I said, no, I think he’s an inside linebacker and luckily it hit.”

Baun and the Eagles will be back on the field Thursday night with first place in the NFC East on the line when Philadelphia hosts the 7-3 Washington Commanders.

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