The University of Wisconsin’s football program may just be the country’s premier ‘Linebacker-U.’
Former Badger linebacker Zack Baun threw another log onto that well-deserved fire on Sunday. The UW alumnus tallied 13 total tackles, including nine solo, in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 15-12 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Prior to the Week 3 contest, the former Badger accumulated 24 total tackles and two sacks for the Eagles against the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. The total was enough to vault him into the No. 2 spot in total tackles across the NFL through two weeks.
With 13 more recorded on Sunday, Baun now trails only Indianapolis Colts’ safety Nick Cross in total tackles through three bouts of the 2024 slate.
Before signing with Philadelphia in March, Baun spent his first four NFL seasons in New Orleans. His previous career high in tackles for a season was 30 in 2023 and 2021. He officially shattered that on Sunday.
Zack Baun through 3 games:
– 37 tackles (leads league)
– 2 sacks
– 2 QB hits
– 1 TFL
– 2 stops on 4th down#Eagles pic.twitter.com/3xkD166OTY— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) September 22, 2024
Outside of Baun, he Badgers currently have eight former linebackers playing in the NFL. That list includes T.J. Watt (Steelers), Nick Herbig (Steelers), Andrew Van Ginkel (Vikings), Leo Chenal (Chiefs), Maema Njongmeta (Bengals), Jack Sanborn (Bears) and T.J. Edwards (Bears).
At Wisconsin, Baun was the first consensus first-team All-America linebacker in school history in 2019 and led UW with a single-season and tallied 154 total tackles, 30.5 TFLs and 15.0 sacks from 2016-19.