Wisconsin LB Zack Baun interviews with Cowboys ahead of 2020 NFL Draft

Jerry Jones, Mike McCarthy, and other Cowboys staffers have interviewed Zack Baun, a linebacker prospect from Wisconsin with big potential.

The Cowboys have pulled back the curtain just a bit further on their 2020 draft preparations. On Tuesday, the team’s social media department released a highlight package from their recent virtual interview with Wisconsin’s Zack Baun.

The outside linebacker was a first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2019. It was the Wisconsin native’s senior season as a Badger after a high school career that saw him excel at basketball and track as well as several positions on the football field.

The athletically-gifted Baun may not even remain at linebacker, according to some. It’s thought that with some added bulk, the 6-foot-2-inch Baun could become a nasty edge rusher. Whatever position he lines up at, Baun is, in the parlance of new Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, a football player. Perhaps that versatility helped convince owner Jerry Jones, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, linebacker coach Scott McCurley, Klein Kubiak from the scouting department, and others to also jump on the group Webex with the talented Butkus Award finalist.

Baun’s stock has been on the rise with draft experts. John Owning of The Dallas Morning News called him “the best pass rusher in this class outside of Ohio State’s Chase Young, displaying great burst, bend, hand technique, footwork and rush IQ.”

But it’s that motor Baun references that he prides himself on. To many, his high-energy play is reminiscent of Clay Matthews, a 2009 draft pick that McCarthy’s Packers traded up to acquire in the first round.

Any comparison at all to a six-time Pro Bowler is enough to sit up and take notice. Baun’s state pedigree almost certainly carries some weight with McCarthy, and at the very least, provides a degree of familiarity. And the fact that he hails from the same college program that produced the Watt brothers is an encouraging bonus. (One has to wonder if Jones still smarts over not drafting T.J. back in 2017.)

But Dallas sits at 17 on opening day of 2020’s draft. Is that too soon? “Some may lament that taking Wisconsin’s Zack Baun this early is a reach,” Owning writes, “but they’re wrong — oh-so wrong.”

[protected-iframe id=”6770cd6a67d288eaa9cc35ce56815d14-105974723-8034320″ info=”https://www.mockdraftable.com/embed/zack-baun?position=LB&page=GRAPH” width=”480″ height=”651″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

Scouting report from Lance Zierlein, NFL.com:

“Ascending prospect whose explosive production on the field has begun to mirror his explosive athletic traits. Baun’s twitchy get-off and deep bend at the edge is nightmare fuel for Big Ten tackles and he’s still at the early stages of pass rush development. He is aggressive to flow downhill in run support, has sideline-to-sideline range and is fluid dropping into coverage. He’s strong but a little light as an edge-setter so teams will need to figure out how best to align him. Baun is a scheme-diverse linebacker with high-impact potential whose best days are ahead of him.”

Scouting report from Kyle Crabbs, The Draft Network:

“Zack Baun will excel in a defensive system that capitalizes on his versatility and football IQ to place him in various roles in the defensive front seven. Baun has the quickness, burst and hand usage to win as a pressure player but early downs will serve him best working off the football to take advantage of his quick processor and short area quickness to step into gaps and fill versus the run. He can be a critical starter for a defense but needs to be moved around to play his best football.”

It is tantalizing to think about a Cowboys linebacker corps that starts with Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch, and Sean Lee, and then adds a player of Zack Baun’s potential. Knowing he has the skills to step up and also wreak havoc from the defensive line makes Baun an even juicier proposition that could well be worth the team’s 17th pick.