Zack Baun put up insane numbers as a high school QB, says the Eagles are ‘miles ahead of where we were last year’
Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship, who both also played quarterback in high school, were joined by their All-Pro teammate on this week’s episode of “Exciting Mics.”
Before Cooper DeJean heads back to Iowa to be the grand marshal in the Creeks Day parade, and before Reed Blankenship gets married and celebrates his honeymoon in Puerto Rico, the two sat down for another episode of Exciting Mics. And this week, they were joined by Eagles’ All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun.
After a successful season with the Eagles — one that led to him signing a three-year, $51 million contract extension — Baun discussed being a quarterback in high school, changing positions in college, his first season with the Eagles, and how this year’s team compares to last year.
Here’s everything you missed …
From quarterback to linebacker
Baun, Blankenship, and DeJean have more in common than just being Super Bowl champs. The three defensive players are also former high school quarterbacks. Both Baun and DeJean started their first two years as receivers before making the switch to quarterback in their last two years.
On Exciting Mics, they revealed Baun’s eye-popping high school stats during his junior and senior year. The former quarterback rushed for 3,923 yards, passed for 3,061 yards, and recorded 94 total touchdowns.
» READ MORE: Zack Baun is adjusting to his new standing with the Eagles as a leader and face of the defense
It’s safe to say if the Eagles ever need an emergency quarterback, they have plenty of options. But who would Nick Sirianni go trust among the trio of defenders? According to Baun, the answer is clear.
“Probably [Cooper], you’re already playing 12 positions,” Baun said.
“I would love to go drop back and sling it to A.J. Brown,” DeJean said.
Out of high school, Baun was recruited to play outside linebacker, but he said he only had two offers: Wisconsin and South Dakota State. He decided to join Wisconsin on a grayshirt offer, delaying entry into the school. It wasn’t until right before signing day, the school upgraded his offer to a full ride.
“Their other outside linebackers that they had there were also quarterbacks in high school,” Baun said. “Joe Schobert, Vince Biegel — quarterbacks in high school. So, they were like, ‘OK, you can come in and redshirt, watch these guys, and just kind of wait your turn because the room was loaded. T.J. Watt, Andrew Van Ginkel was there. And when I first got there [Watt] was playing tight end and they had just switched him to outside linebacker.”
It wasn’t until Baun’s senior year that he really made a name for himself — finishing with 76 tackles and 12.5 sacks, earning first team All-Big Ten and first team All-American honors.
‘We’re miles ahead of where we were last year’
Following a Super Bowl season, Baun is already focused on what’s next. And the Eagles linebacker believes the team is having a better start than last year.
“I’m driven internally to just be the best at whatever I’m trying to do,” Baun said. “And then obviously watching tape from last year, I had 150 tackles or whatever, but I’m like, I missed 29 of them, I could have had this. Or I dropped this, or I could have punched at the ball here. So, there’s always stuff to get better at and I think we have a lot to do as a defense too.
“To think that was all of our first year in that scheme. Like, what are we going to do next year? Already, I feel like we’re miles ahead of where we were last year at this time.”
First interaction with Vic Fangio
After four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Baun signed a one-year contract with the Eagles last offseason. He immediately found success and turned in an All-Pro season, but when he was first signed, he “had no clue” how the Eagles were going to use him in new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s new system.
“When I came in to sign last year, I’m like walking through the upstairs of the complex, shaking everybody’s hand, getting to know everyone,” Baun said. “And I walk into Vic’s room. I didn’t know anything about Vic, and I walked in there like ‘What’s up coach, I’m Zack, nice to meet you, happy to be here.’ High energy.
“I just met everyone in the building, trying to be as nice as possible. And he’s in there watching some old 2016 Baltimore Ravens defense clips. And the whole time I’m talking to him, I’m pretty sure he’s still watching the clips. It was a short interaction.”