Eagles’ Zack Baun named NFC Defensive Player of the Week – NBC Sports Philadelphia

On November 15, 2024By Littum

Zack Baun has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.

How long has it been since an Eagles linebacker won the award?

Well, Baun is teammates with the son of the last guy who did it… so it’s been a while.

Jeremiah Trotter Sr. was the last Eagles inside linebacker to win an NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for his performance in Week 7 of the 2005 season. So it’s been over a decade since the last time.

Baun gives the Eagles the type of linebacker play we haven’t seen in this city in a long time.

Against the Cowboys, Baun stuffed the stat sheet with 8 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 tackle for loss. He did all that before he and the rest of the starters were pulled in the fourth quarter of the 34-6 win over the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

“Zack is a great athlete,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after the win. “He’s tough. You see him in the open field making tackles. You see him stick his face in there in tight spaces. You see he can rush. Right now he’s on a streak of taking the football away and the ball thinks him.

“I just think he’s a really good football player. The best compliment I can give a guy is that he’s a really good football player. That happens when you’re tough, you’re physical, detailed and he really plays fundamentally sound and just getting better every time he steps on the field.”

The Eagles signed Baun to a cheap one-year deal in free agency. While most thought he would be a situational edge rusher, veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw Baun as an inside linebacker and plugged him into the defense and hasn’t moved him since.

In his four years with New Orleans, Baun was a contributor but never took control of a full-time starting gig. He had 14 starts in 4 years with the Saints and has now started all 9 games with the Eagles in 2024 and is playing at a Pro Bowl level.

Baun said Sunday that he is not surprised by his success.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Baun. “I think throughout my time in New Orleans, obviously people say I was an on-ball linebacker, but when I was in New Orleans, I put in the time and put in as much work as the starters. Just because to prepare for a moment like this, my opportunity. And all I had to do was take advantage of it and just let it fly.”

Baun is the second Eagles player to be named Player of the Week this season, after Saquon Barkley has won three times:

Week 1 – Saquon Barkley – NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 7 – Saquon Barkley – NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 9 – Saquon Barkley – NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 10 – Zack Baun – NFC Defensive Player of the Week