Saints third-round pick Zach Baun and first-round pick Cesar Ruiz both trained in Phoenix ahead of the NFL Draft.
They talked in their group text about potentially being drafted by the same team. And after the Saints traded a 2021 third-round pick to swap this year’s third round selections with the Cleveland Browns and select the Wisconsin linebacker, those musings became a reality.
“(I’m) excited to get BIG 10 that connection going,” Baun said
The 6-foot-2, 238-pound prospect was projected in some mock drafts to potentially be a first round pick after posting solid numbers at the NFL Combine and coming off an impressive season that saw him earn first team All-Big Ten honors.
He said he wasn’t concerned with why it took so long to hear his named called, He was just happy to hear it.
He spent most of his college career on the edge and last year posted career bests of 19.5 tackles for a loss and 12.5 sacks in 2019. But Baun said he’s more than just a pass rusher.
“Obviously I’m most comfortable on the edge,” he said. “That’s where I spent most/all of my time in college. But I really just consider myself a linebacker that can do a lot of things. I think my versatility is my biggest attribute and my biggest asset.”
Baun doesn’t have the prototypical size of an NFL edge rusher but still found success.
“I understand I can’ t do a lot of things that the 6-5, 250 defensive ends do but I can take bits and pieces of a lot of peoples game and implement them into mine and make my own style,” he said.
Baun said he studied technique of several players and had gotten a lot of advice from his former teammate T.J. Watt.
“I had a few guys that I really honed in on and studied on as far as NFL goes,” he said, “It was a lot of Dee Ford, a lot of T.J. Watt. Him being a former badger, he helped me out a lot.
“He would shoot me different pash rush clips “Hey I think this could work. This looks like it’s in your wheelhouse’ “
Overall, Baun said he was very excited to be headed to New Orleans and said being drafted was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. Although the former quarterback is playing a different position from when he had that original dream.
