One position the New York Giants desperately need to address this off-season is linebacker. Last year, they featured Alec Ogletree and Ryan Connelly to start the season, but Connelly quickly went down with a torn ACL against the Washington Redskins, prematurely ending his season and an impressive development up to that point.
With several premium options in free agency and the NFL draft, the Giants have the resources to bolster the position exponentially, finally plugging in a player to cover tight ends and stop the run. Isaiah Simmons out of Clemson has been the frequent flyer for the Giants regarding projection in the draft, but one other option has me intrigued, and he is also from Wisconsin, just like Connelly.
Linebacker Zack Baun, who is a projected second-round pick in the upcoming draft, has elite instinctual attributes but is also a solid pass rusher. Logging 12.5 sacks as a senior for Wisconsin, he can attack quarterbacks as an edge rusher, but he truly stands out in the middle of the field. During Senior Bowl practices, Baun played weakside linebacker, and he also tallied 19 tackles for loss in 2019, earning the playmaker accolade for Wisconsin.
The most exciting thing about Baun is that he made the transition from quarterback to linebacker coming out of high school.
Already having Connolly with the New York Giants makes his potential light landing spot a lot more attractive.
“Yeah, that would be awesome,’’ Zack Baun said Tuesday before the first Senior Bowl practice of the week. “I think if I go to a team with any other Wisconsin linebacker, it’s automatically going to help me pick up the defense. We have a strong bond, connection, being from essentially the same bloodline.’’
Baun expressed his confidence in Wisconsin for producing quality linebackers:
“I think every linebacker that started at Wisconsin since I’ve been there is in the league and doing very well,’’ Baun said. “I think we’re the new Linebacker U.’’
If the Giants decide they don’t want to allocate too much capital in a linebacker in free agency, or find better value with the 4th overall pick and pass on Simmons, Baun is an exciting prospect with tons of potential.