Tag: Zack Baun

3 trades Cowboys should make to own the 2020 NFL Draft

The Dallas Cowboys can improve the most by trading most of their draft capital in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Draft week is here and the Dallas Cowboys have seven chances to improve their team. However, having seven picks doesn’t necessarily mean the Cowboys need to use all of them on college players.

In a year where teams don’t have the access to players like they normally do, trading for established players might be the best path for the Cowboys. Why chance the unknown when they can add good players who’ve been in the league.

Here is a path where the Cowboys can get better by maximizing their draft capital and coming away with talent. Let’s call it the trade-away draft.

First Round No. 17: Trade to NY Jets
Receive: Safety Jamal Adams

Perhaps this is wishful thinking for getting him somewhat cheap, but if the Jets are willing to trade Adams, the Cowboys should revisit the idea after the two teams spoke about a deal last October.

A first-round plus something in next year’s draft (as has been discussed in this space) would also be acceptable. Adam is an All-Pro safety who is still just 24-years old and would solve the team’s long standing need at safety. He’s quite simply a better option than anyone they can draft at 17.

The best part of obtaining Adams is that he’s on his rookie contract and the Cowboys can get him on the cheap for a few seasons. Adams is angling for a new contract, but with two years remaining (assuming team picks up fifth-year option, a no-brainer) he arrives at a sweet cost for the next two seasons before he banks big money. When the time comes, the NFL’s cap will be much higher than and the Cowboys should have no issues doling out the money for Adams’ services.

Second Round No. 51 and Third Round No. 82: Trade up to…

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Where Baun, Taylor, and other Badgers land in the latest USA TODAY Mock Draft

Our friends at DraftWire recently put together their latest four round NFL mock draft, and while there where no Badgers included in the first round, both Zack Baun and Jonathan Taylor flew off the board soon after. Here is where the Badgers taken in …

Our friends at DraftWire recently put together their latest four round NFL mock draft, and while there where no Badgers included in the first round, both Zack Baun and Jonathan Taylor flew off the board soon after. Here is where the Badgers taken in the four round mock draft landed.

Zack Baun — 36th overall pick to the New York Giants 

There will be no question on draft day as to who the top two Badgers off the board are, but there is a question surrounding who goes first. In the latest mock draft, it was Baun off the board first. The former Wisconsin ‘backer has seen himself climbing up draft boards following a sensational senior season and solid combine performance. Baun racked up 12.5 sacks this past season in Madison. The Giants have needs all over their defense, and Baun would certainly be able to compete for a significant role as a rookie.

Jonathan Taylor — 39th overall pick to the Miami Dolphins 

Taylor going at 39 feels about average in terms of where we have seen him placed over this past week. Some see the two-time Doak Walker award winner as a late day one guy, although early day two seems more likely. Heading to Miami makes sense, as the Dolphins, like the Giants, are a team with needs everywhere, including at the running back position. Miami would be an opportunity for Taylor to be a three down back as a rookie.

Here is where the rest of the Badgers fell: 

Tyler Biadasz — 85th overall pick to the LA Rams 

Chris Orr — 129th overall pick to the Baltimore Ravens

Qunitez Cephus — 141st overall pick to the Miami Dolphins

2020 NFL Draft: Ranking the top 10 edge rushers

The Big Ten produced four of our top-5 edge rushers this year.

We’re getting accustomed to hearing hype surrounding a edge rushers who played college ball in Columbus, Ohio. Both Joey and Nick Bosa starred for the Buckeyes before becoming as can’t-miss as a prospect can be heading into their respective drafts (Joey went No. 3 to the Chargers in 2016; Nick was the second-overall selection last year.)

Chase Young, though, could reach another level. He was easily the best player in the Big Ten — which happens to have produced five of the top six players on my list this year.

I expect at least three edge rushers to be selected in the first round Thursday night, with two others potentially slipping into the end of the round.

1. Chase Young, Ohio State

This one is a no-brainer. Young is not only the best edge prospect in this class, but he’s probably the best football player in it, as well. He was a dominant force game in and game out for Ohio State and even got some Heisman buzz early on in the season. Young has everything you want in a draft prospect: Size, strength, speed, agility and technique. He’s the surest thing in the class. Whichever team lands him will be getting a star on the edge for the next decade.

Grade: Early 1st Round

2. Zack Baun, Wisconsin

Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports

Baun may never be a guy you just line up on the edge and expect him to beat NFL tackles, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a valuable NFL player. He’ll need some schematic help, but if he lands with a smart defensive coaching staff, he’ll be a Pro Bowler. Baun will likely settle into role not too different from the one we’ve seen Kyle Van Noy play in New England. He’ll mostly be used as an off-the-ball blitzer who can drop into coverage without being fully exploited. He’s that good of an athlete.

Grade: Late 1st Round

3. A.J. Epenesa, Iowa

Epenesa will tell us if teams are really leaning more on the tape during this unique draft season. He wasn’t expected to blow up the combine, but a 5.04 40-yard dash will certainly give teams questions. Athleticism was never a selling point for the Iowa edge. He’s more of a power pass rusher who can kick inside on passing downs. Even if Epenesa never develops into a dominant edge rusher, his run defense should allow him to find a role in the NFL. Outside of Chase Young, he’s the safest edge prospect in the class.

Grade: Late 1st Round

4. Julian Okwara, Notre Dame

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Okwara is far from a finished product, but that can be said of a lot of the prospects in the year’s class of pass rushers. He is, however, built like an NFL pass rusher and his athleticism should allow him to be a productive player from the time he steps on an NFL field. Teams may be scared off after a leg injury prevented Okwara from participating in Combine drills but it’s evident on tape this dude has special tools. He’s not a versatile pass rusher, lining up almost exclusively on the edge for the Irish, but he does have the ability to drop into coverage if need be. If a team can get him interested in stopping the run, Okwara could be a star.

Grade: Early 2nd Round

5. Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State

NFL teams will be drawn to Gross-Matos’ potential. His tape is somewhat underwhelming but the Penn State product has the tools to develop into a productive player if he lands with a good coaching staff. He’s explosive off the line and has the flexibility to turn the corner after beating his blocker. He just needs to do that last part more often. Adding more pass rush moves (and counters) to his toolbox will help. Gross-Matos has the frame to get stronger, which should help against the run. Until that happens, the 22-year-old will have to settle for a rotational role.

Grade: Early 2nd Round

Five more prospects to keep an eye on…

6. Josh Uche, Michigan
7. K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU
8. Curtis Weaver, Boise State
9. Terrell Lewis, Alabama
10. Jonathan Greenard, Florida

Bengals’ website says Zack Baun is the No. 33 pick in new mock draft

A new mock draft says the Cincinnati Bengals get Zack Baun at No. 33.

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Edge defenders continue to be a big point of speculation for the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 33 in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.

And the newest — and most notable — mock draft features Wisconsin edge rusher Zack Baun as the pick.

Here’s a blurb of the explanation from Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“This is certainly a need pick here. A no-brainer, you’d think.

Yes, in the first 2020 Bengals.com Media Mock Draft before the NFL scouting combine, we went with a SAM backer- type in Alabama’s Terrell Lewis, a Senior Bowler the Bengals coached for the South.”

The line of thinking is simple and could easily be what we see play out late this week. Cincinnati needs to improve its rotational pass rush, needs more versailtiy for its diverse front and could have a first-round grade on Baun.

Baun could slip to the second round in normal circumstances given the strength of the draft class in other areas. But it’s worth noting Baun tested positive for a diluted sample at the combine, which could play a part.

Speaking of the strength of the class, if Baun is the pick at No. 33, there will be plenty of quality wideout targets in the third round if things unfold like this.

“Do you hate this? Love it? Want to share your thoughts on this article? Sound off in the Bengals Wire forum!”

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Multiple Badgers included in USA TODAY’s NFL Draft position rankings

Find out where former Badgers land in USA TODAY DraftWire’s final position rankings before draft day

Earlier today, our friends at DraftWire put out top 20 rankings by position for the upcoming NFL Draft.

Multiple Badgers across a wide variety of positions were included. Jonathan Taylor led the way for the running backs as the top overall ranked prospect at his position. The two-time Doak Walker Award winner was followed by Georgia’s D’Andre Swift and fellow Big Ten star J.K. Dobbins out of Ohio State. It would certainly be a surprise to not see Taylor as the first running back off the board come draft day. The question remains as to whether he is taken in round one on Thursday or has to wait until Friday to hear his name called.

Chris Orr, a player who has seen his stock rapidly rise after a sensational senior season followed by a solid Wisconsin pro day, was ranked as the tenth best linebacker. The rankings considered Badger ‘backer Zack Baun as an “edge defender,” and had the Brown Deer (Wisc.) native listed as the sixth best overall prospect at that position.

Former Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz was listed as the eighth best interior offensive lineman. Expect the 6-3 lineman to be the third Badger off the board, after Baun and Taylor respectively.

Rounding out the Badger appearances in USA TODAY’s rankings was wide receiver Quintez Cephus, who clocked in as the 18th overall prospect at his position. After a strong Wisconsin pro day performance where Cephus improved his 40-yard dash time from 4.73 at the combine to 4.58 on pro day, the Georgia native will hope to hear his name called near the end of this weekend.

 

An update and analysis on where former Badgers land in The Athletic’s latest mock draft

NFL Draft writer Dane Brugler of the Athletic released his 2020 NFL Mock Draft 5.0 last week and sees four former Badgers being selected…

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NFL Draft writer Dane Brugler of the Athletic released his 2020 NFL Mock Draft 5.0 last week and sees four former Badgers being selected during next week’s event.

The four, to no surprise, are linebacker Zack Baun, running back Jonathan Taylor, center Tyler Biadasz and wide receiver Quintez Cephus.

What is a slight surprise, though, is where Brugler slotted some of the Badger products to go.

Here is an overview of where the mock draft has the four players, an analysis of whether the selections make sense and a look at their potential fits with those teams.

 

Zack Baun: 28th overall (1st round) to the Baltimore Ravens

This would be the best-case scenario for both Baun and the Ravens come draft day.

I went on the Locked on Badgers podcast yesterday and discussed the potential best landing spots for the Badgers entering the draft. When the topic shifted to Baun, the Ravens were my clear choice.

Baun brings valuable versatility to the table in addition to clearly being a stellar pass rusher. This fit would see Baun land in Baltimore on a defense headlined by Earl Thomas III, Calais Campbell, Matthew Judon, Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters and more.

One of the Ravens’ only needs in this draft is a pass rusher, a role Baun would fill tremendously as he would join a stellar defense, outlined above, that would put both him and the team in a position to succeed right away.

 

Jonathan Taylor: 35th overall (2nd round) to the Detroit Lions

This one does not make as much sense to me.

First of all, the Lions have a fine backfield set for 2020 with Kerryon Johnson, Bo Scarborough and Ty Johnson. Adding Taylor to this group would definitely be an upgrade but would also come at the peril of missing an obvious opportunity to fill the holes the team has at cornerback, pass rusher, interior defensive line, safety and more.

This selection would represent a fine fit from the former Badger running back’s perspective as the Lions have a solid offensive line, a good quarterback and an above-average overall offense when key pieces are healthy, something which wasn’t the case in 2019.

In total, though, the Lions have much more significant needs than running back and I don’t see it likely that they use the 35th overall pick on Taylor.

Side note: the mock draft has Taylor as the second running back off the board after Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins is selected at No. 26 by the Miami Dolphins.

 

Tyler Biadasz: 113th overall (4th round) to the Carolina Panthers

Brugler’s mock draft has the Panthers addressing their weaknesses at linebacker, cornerback and defensive line in the first three rounds before selecting Biadasz to sure-up their offensive line in round four.

I like this selection by the Panthers and like how Biadasz fits in Carolina, especially given running back Christian McCaffrey‘s new contract and how significant he is to the offense.

The former Badger would join an offensive line that ranked 18th in the NFL last season and would likely battle for the starting job with the team’s current center Matt Paradis, a guy who dropped off in 2019 after finding success in the beginning of his career and finished the season having allowed a position-high 47 quarterback pressures according to ProFootballFocus.

 

Quintez Cephus: 228th overall (7th round) to the Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons would be an ideal landing spot for Cephus, even if he has to wait until the seventh round to go there.

The former Badgers is from Macon, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta, and would be a worthy flier for the Falcons to take with one of their late picks.

The current Falcons depth chart sees Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley at No. 1 and 2 respectively, but no sure thing after them. While a No. 3 receiver isn’t a glaring need for the team, aiming at a guy like Cephus in the late rounds would be a low-risk, high-reward plan to fill that role.

Cephus no doubt has the talent to make an NFL roster, and were it to be with the Falcons having Matt Ryan as his quarterback to begin his career would be great news for Cephus’ chances at sticking in the league.

 

The NFL Draft begins this upcoming Thursday night and will conclude on Saturday.

2020 NFL Draft: Cincinnati Bengals team preview

Everything Cincinnati Bengal fans need to know heading into the 2020 NFL Draft

Everything Cincinnati Bengal fans need to know heading into the 2020 NFL Draft.

VITALS

Head Coach: Zac Taylor

General Manager: Michael Brown

2019 Record: 2-14

2020 DRAFT PICKS

1 (1)

2 (33)

3 (65)

4 (107)

5 (147)

6 (180)

7 (215)

TEAM NEEDS

Quarterback

It all begins and ends at the quarterback position and for the Cincinnati Bengals it is no different. For the better part of the last five months, one name has been linked to the team more than any other. With the first selection, they should select Joe Burrow to be their new franchise-leading man. The Andy Dalton era has passed and now the Bengals can get behind Burrow as they try and rebuild the roster.

Offensive Line

After finding their new face of the franchise, the next focus should be on protecting that quarterback. The teams really could use an upgrade at both right guard and right tackle. Plenty of players in the upcoming draft to do so when the time comes but if they want to return to the playoffs in the near future, those two spots need attention.

Linebacker

Most NFL defenses spend the majority of their time in nickel and other sub packages, which makes athleticism a must for today’s linebackers, given the extra ground they have to cover in the middle of the field. That athleticism is lacking among Cincy’s current linebacker group, and they should look to address that in the early rounds with someone like LSU’s Patrick Queen or Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray.

TOP TARGETS

Joe Burrow | QB | Louisiana State

Chase Young | EDGE | Ohio State

Ezra Cleveland | OT | Boise State

Zack Baun | LB | Wisconsin

Patrick Queen | LB | LSU

Jalen Reagor | WR | Texas Christian

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Locked On Badgers Podcast: Badgers NFL Draft preview and more with BadgersWire staff writer Ben Kenney

Asher and Ben talk the NFL Draft, the Greg Gard era, and reminisce on memories of going to games as Wisconsin students.

The Locked On Badgers Podcast is a daily Wisconsin basketball and football podcast bringing you short-form, daily coverage of Badgers sports Monday through Friday. On today’s episode, BadgersWire staff writer Ben Kenney joins Asher to talk NFL Draft, Greg Gard, and tell some sports stories from his time as a UW-Madison student.

You can listen to Locked On Badgers Monday through Friday wherever you get your podcasts.

Wisconsin LB Zack Baun has unusual explanation for testing positive for a diluted sample

Wisconsin LB Zack Baun has unusual explanation for testing positive for a diluted sample and it probably rules him out from the Lions

Wisconsin linebacker Zack Baun gets a fair amount of run as a potential Detroit Lions target in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s a player often mocked to the Lions at No. 35 overall and played quite well for Matt Patricia and the Detroit coaches during Senior Bowl week in January.

The Lions might have some pause with Baun after the linebacker revealed on Tuesday that he tested positive for a diluted urine sample at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. But it’s not what you might think…

Baun wrote a letter to all 32 NFL teams explaining that he consumed a hefty amount of water in order to boost his weigh-in weight. Baun’s biggest issue in many scouts’ eyes is a lack of mass, and he weighed in at 238 pounds. Baun was 240 at the Senior Bowl weigh-in.

That’s a bigger concern for the Lions than it will be for some other teams. Detroit’s defense has consistently favored heavier LBs, and his lack of size almost certainly prevents Baun from playing as a full-time EDGE or JACK with the Lions. Needing to load up on water weight to get to a figure that’s still too light for the Lions’ metrics seems to disqualify Baun from Detroit’s consideration.

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Mel Kiper’s mock draft has Patriots selecting LB at 23rd overall

The New England Patriots may take a linebacker with the 23rd overall pick according to a mock draft from Mel Kiper Jr.

The NFL Draft is almost here, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper selected a linebacker for the New England Patriots in his latest mock draft. He selected Zack Baun out of Wisconsin with New England’s 23rd overall pick.

Baun had a stellar season statistically last year for the Wisconsin Badgers, recording 12.5 sacks and 19.5 total tackles for a loss. Baun was third on the Badgers last season with 76 tackles. That is certainly not a knock on him, as Wisconsin had a very capable group of linebackers.

As Kiper noted in his draft, New England could use depth at the position with the losses of Jamie Collins, Elandon Roberts, and Kyle van Noy in the offseason. Along with depth, age is also an issue at the position.

Dont’a Hightower is 30 years old and is entering his ninth season. He is still a productive player, recording 71 tackles last season, but he could certainly use help at the linebacker position. Kiper addresses some of the departures in his breakdown.

“It’s really tough to predict what Bill Belichick is going to do in a draft, but we know that he likes versatile front-seven pieces,” Kiper wrote. “That’s Baun, who broke out for the Badgers last season with 12.5 sacks and 19.5 total tackles for loss. The Patriots lost linebackers Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Elandon Roberts in free agency, so Baun fills a need. Since it appears New England is happy with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer at quarterback, I’ll stay away from that position.”

New England certainly has a lot of holes to fill. The linebacker position is one of them. Due to their lack of depth, this could be a position they focus on. The Patriots have several ways they can use their first-round pick. With Bill Belichick being a defensive-minded coach, picking a linebacker in the first round does not seem like that much of a stretch. Baun brings the physicality and athleticism that New England typically looks for in a linebacker,

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