Player

Zack Baun

LB · Eagles

Zack Baun: facts drawn from the play-by-play.

FanIQ Research · May 10, 2026 · 6 facts, every one from the play-by-play

He was a backup edge rusher for four years. Then Philly moved him off the ball and he led the NFL in tackles.

Trend

Defensive production by season (regular season + playoffs)

Year	Team	Tackles	Assists	Sacks	QB Hits	PD	FF
2020	NO	9	6	0	0	0	0
2021	NO	22	8	0	2	0	0
2022	NO	6	5	0	2	0	0
2023	NO	17	10	2	4	2	0
2024	PHI	101	71	3	6	7	6
2025	PHI	66	62	3	5	7	1

Combined tackles per season

Season	Tackles + Assists
2020	15
2021	30
2022	11
2023	27
2024	172
2025	128

From 2020-2023 in New Orleans he logged a combined 83 tackles in 4 years — a rotational edge defender on a deep front. He signed with Philadelphia in 2024, switched to off-ball linebacker, and immediately racked up 172 combined tackles in his first season. That's more than double his entire career total to that point, in one year.

NO Baun vs PHI Baun are two different players — same body, completely different stat line.

Split

Career splits by team/role

Era	Tackles	Assists	Sacks	QB Hits	PD	FF
NO 2020-23 (edge)	54	29	2	8	2	0
PHI 2024-25 (off-ball)	167	133	6	11	14	7

In two years as an off-ball LB he has 3x the tackles, 7x the pass deflections, and 7 forced fumbles after never recording one in 4 years in New Orleans. The QB-hit totals are barely different (11 to 8) — the pass rush wasn't the issue, the role was.

He tied for the NFL lead in forced fumbles in 2024 — with T.J. Watt.

Rare

NFL forced fumble leaders, 2024 regular season

Player	Team	FF
T.J. Watt	PIT	6
Zack Baun	PHI	6
Zaire Franklin	IND	5
Jessie Bates	ATL	4
Oren Burks	PHI	4
Fred Warner	SF	4
Quincy Williams	NYJ	4
Jonathan Greenard	MIN	4

Watt is a five-time All-Pro pass rusher — forcing fumbles is his job description. Baun finished tied with him at 6 forced fumbles, plus 3 fumble recoveries, in his first year ever playing the position. Of the top 8 finishers, two were Eagles (Baun + special-teamer Oren Burks).

His 139 reg-season tackles in 2024 put him 7th in the NFL — his first season at the position.

Comparison

NFL combined-tackle leaders, 2024 regular season

Rank	Player	Team	Combined
1	Zaire Franklin	IND	155
2	Budda Baker	ARI	153
3	Roquan Smith	BAL	145
4	Robert Spillane	LV	143
5	Jamien Sherwood	NYJ	143
6	Kaden Elliss	ATL	139
7	Zack Baun	PHI	139
8	Daiyan Henley	LAC	135

The names ahead of him are all multi-year veterans at the position. Roquan Smith was the No. 8 overall pick. Budda Baker has been a perennial Pro Bowler. Baun was a converted edge with 83 career tackles before the season started. He finished ahead of 27 other Pro-Bowl-caliber linebackers in his first full year off the ball.

He went from 0 career forced fumbles to 7 in 24 months.

Milestone

Forced fumbles by season

Season	FF
NO	0
NO	0
NO	0
NO	0
PHI	6
PHI	1

Through his New Orleans years he never punched the ball out once. In Philly he went 6 in 2024 (T-1st in the NFL) and added 3 fumble recoveries — turning the ball over to his offense 9 times in a single season. That's the kind of swing-play production that wins a Super Bowl, which is exactly what Philly did.

He's still rushing the passer — just at a fraction of the volume, more efficiently.

Anomaly

Sack production by era

Era	Sacks	Half-sacks	QB Hits	TFL
NO 2020-23 (edge role)	2	0	8	6
PHI 2024-25 (off-ball LB)	6	2	11	20

The funny part: he's actually a better pass rusher as an off-ball linebacker than he was as a designated edge. 6 sacks + 2 half-sacks in 2 years as a LB, vs. 2 sacks in 4 years on the edge. 20 tackles for loss in Philly vs. 6 in New Orleans. Vic Fangio's defense uses him as a B-gap blitzer on key downs — less volume than an edge but better matchups.

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