Eagles film breakdown: Has Zack Baun played his way to the top of Howie Roseman’s extension to-do list?

It’s hard to believe Zack Baun signed with the Eagles roughly eight months ago with dreams of finally getting a chance to be a full-time edge rusher.

The 27-year-old, who initially expressed his excitement about getting a shot to stick on the edge after playing as an outside linebacker with the New Orleans Saints, has become one of the league’s most productive off-ball linebackers this season. As hard as it may have been to envision even for Baun at times, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said the idea first came to him when general manager Howie Roseman presented Baun’s film to him in the lead-up to free agency.

“He had a vision for him as a backup outside linebacker, special teams demon,” Fangio said last Tuesday. “And after I watched it, I said, ‘No, I think he’s an inside linebacker.’ Luckily it hit.”

» READ MORE: Why Vic Fangio knew Zack Baun could play inside

It has hit indeed. Not only is he one of the Eagles’ most steady defensive players, Baun has been one of the most complete linebackers in the NFL. His play may warrant the type of midseason contract extension the Eagles have done with ascending young players in years past.

To see why securing Baun for the long term makes so much sense, let’s look at the film:

Linebacker play can sometimes be difficult to quantify through basic or advanced metrics, but it’s still worth noting just how often Baun sits near the top of the NFL in the ones available. Entering Monday night, Baun ranked second in the league in solo tackles, fifth in total tackles, and fourth in forced fumbles.

In advanced metrics, he has the fewest yards allowed per target among NFL linebackers according to Next Gen Stats and leads the league in the site’s “stops” metric, which measures how often a player makes a tackle that results in a favorable outcome for the defense. Baun has 58, two more than Baltimore Ravens All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, who has played one more game than Baun.

One of Baun’s “stops” came on arguably the most pivotal play of the Eagles’ 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders last Thursday night. Facing fourth-and-2 from the Eagles’ 26-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, Washington ran a busted play that left quarterback Jayden Daniels breaking from the backfield and running toward the sideline marker. Baun shed a blocker working toward the sideline and delivered the decisive hit on Daniels as the signal caller dove for the first-down marker, stopping the Commanders short for a turnover on downs.

While most of Baun’s splashiest plays this season have come when he’s working downhill and has the chance to either make a tackle for loss, a “stop,” or to punch the ball free, he’s made his share of plays in coverage as well.

In both the Eagles’ wins over the Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys, the linebacker was tested in coverage on his first series and responded with a pass breakup in each game. Against Washington, Baun did a nice job of getting depth with his eyes on the quarterback in order to get into Daniels’ throwing window and nearly came up with the interception as a result.

Plays like those help explain how Baun has become one of the league’s most complete linebackers this season despite only switching to the position in the offseason.

Going back to the advanced metrics, Baun ranks 11th in Next Gen Stats’ “hustle stops,” which tracks how often a player travels 20 or more yards to make a tackle for a successful play for the defense.

Here’s a good example of what those plays look like:

Instances like these are why Nakobe Dean, the other half of the Eagles’ linebacking partnership, described Baun’s play as “meat and potatoes linebacker play,” after the win over the Cowboys.

For all of Baun’s splash plays, there are even more that are mostly visible on the All-22 where he’s either covering significant ground to make a stop or making the right decisions in coverage to take away options downfield.

» READ MORE: Zack Baun Q&A: Eagles’ breakout linebacker discusses taking dance lessons, playing the bass, and more

Midway through the second quarter of the Commanders game, Baun made a “meat and potatoes”-type play with Washington facing first-and-10 from midfield. The Commanders ran a bootleg passing play that isolated Baun in space with Daniels as the rookie quarterback decided to take off and run. Baun managed to get enough width to keep Daniels contained, but also stayed in a good enough position to force Daniels to slide just 1 yard past the line of scrimmage.

In coverage, a good example of Baun’s steady play came late in the fourth quarter, when the Commanders ran a “high-low” route concept that forced him to choose whether to stick with the deep receiver working behind him or the shallow route playing out in front of him.

Baun took away the deep route first, and closed in on Washington running back Austin Ekeler running the underneath route to force the running back out of bounds for a 1-yard gain.

Even if he eventually comes down to earth some after such a strong start to the season, Baun’s versatility has become foundational to how the Eagles’ defensive front lines up.

Fangio has taken advantage of Baun’s past experience as an edge rusher by walking him down to the line of scrimmage just before the snap part of the time this season.

» READ MORE: Zack Attack: The Eagles’ turnover bonanza vs. Cowboys was sparked by bargain LB Zack Baun

Essentially going from an even front with four down linemen and two linebackers to a 5-1 “Penny” front with Baun as one of the edge defenders, the Eagles have been able to shore up their run game at times using Baun from the varied alignment.

Baun has also been able to generate some pressure working off the edge, where he thought he’d be playing in the first place. He was on cleanup duty for Brandon Graham’s sack early in the second quarter of the Commanders game, walking down to the line just before the snap and bending around the edge as Graham tripped up Daniels.

Baun was also working off the edge in the play before his pivotal fourth-down stop late in the Commanders game and managed a tackle for loss “squeezing” down from the edge to tackle Washington running back Brian Robinson Jr.

That versatility has been at the forefront of the Eagles’ defensive surge since returning from the bye week last month, and helps raise the floor for Baun in the long term if the Eagles do indeed decide to extend his one-year deal.