Zach Baun

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think he could be a solid, cost effective extension

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Loomis probably let’s him walk because that’s what he normally does.

Anzalone - didn’t re-sign because of Werner and injuries
Ellis - couldn’t afford him and he was playing ahead of Baun in the pass rush specialist role. Baun gets his opportunity this year

This is what happens when you don’t design the system around players’ strengths, but instead try to pound square pegs into round holes. DA is also doing it with Taylor in the slot, when he’s clearly a boundary corner. The other factor is poor talent evaluation, like letting Hendrickson go b/c you think Davenport is the better option. All these years, DA didn’t know what he had in Baun . . . which is kind of shocking.

Cam Jordan has played 466 more snaps than Baun

Both have 2 sacks
Baun has 1 more TFL
Cam has 6 QB hits to Baun’s 4

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DA is also doing it with Taylor in the slot, when he’s clearly a boundary corner. The other factor is poor talent evaluation, like letting Hendrickson go b/c you think Davenport is the better

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Taylor is the same guy from slot to boundary, he takes chances that cause him to shine or whiff on some plays. Plus Lattimore & Adebo are better than him on the outside, and even Yadom is performing pretty good and arguably better than Taylor did/would, plus if you put Taylor on the outside in Latt's spot then you have a new slot CB so that would make 2 guys in adjusted positions in the secondary in season

Hendrickson's contract year with us just did not line up well for the team, not directly tied into Davenport's contract. Hendrickson did well and earned a payday better than we could afford, plain & simple. At least we did not re-sign Dav to large contract

We do have a bit of a history playing guys out of their positions of strength though.
Anthony Hargrove not being used at 4-3 DE when he had the speed for it, and instead kept him inside even though he was undersized & didn't have the base strength for DT
Akiem Hicks we tried to make a 4-3 DE instead of a 3-tech or 3-4 DE
Kaden Ellis could've been used to pash rush more early on as he had some success in college
Cam Jordan should be moved inside on obvious passing downs at this point of his career
Jimmy Graham not being used more, especially in red zone
Taysom Hill not being used more in red zone
Jamal Williams not being used more in red zone, and having 0 TDs through 16 games this season after having a league high 17 just last season
Zack Baun has been played out of position his entire time, even us amateurs saw this early on, his draft profile and college film was OLB rush and we waited until over 3.5 years down of his 4 year contract to play him at his natural position. He may be situational at best, who knows, since he's listed small at 228lbs but I do wonder if as a professional athlete if he could get to the 240 range if he committed and if the only reason he has not yet is because we played him on special teams and coverage LB??? But I am impressed with his speed/bend on the edge, and his hand fighting. He's not just relying on speed to win.

You may not have noticed that Latt hasn’t played for weeks (for the 2nd season in a row). Last year when that happened, Taylor took his place on the outside. Would have been the natural thing to do this year, but DA has decided to continue to play Taylor out of position. Just gotta “keep doing what you’re doing.”

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Riddick has been in the league 9 years.

He is around 245/250

Braun is probably 225/230

Players slim down for certain positions. Baun probably tried to gain as much weight as possible for the combine.

From an athletic article:

Reddick arrived at training camp this summer weighing 247 pounds, and he implored websites to stop listing him at 230 pounds. (He’s officially listed at 240.) He wanted to add weight to build more strength and better utilize his bull rush. But he’s still under 250 pounds, which often carries the “undersized” label. As Reddick said, the game has changed. Reddick was one of four players last year with double-digit sacks listed under 250 pounds. In his rookie year, there was one.