2020 NFL Draft: 5 players Packers could take in Round 1

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 25: Wide Receiver Denzel Mims #15 from Baylor of the North Team during the 2020 Resse's Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama. The Noth Team defeated the South Team 34 to 17. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

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4. Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin

The Packers signed Christian Kirksey to replace leading tackler Blake Martinez at a lower rate, but depth across the board at linebacker is still a concern. Kirksey has also played just nine games over the last two seasons, so he’s something of a question mark until proven otherwise.

Baun made his bones in college coming off the edge, with 27 tackles for loss over the last two seasons and 12.5 sacks last year as he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. But he was also very good in run support, and a solid volume tackler (75 total tackles in 2019), with the ability play in coverage.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein points to Baun as a scheme-diverse player whose best is ahead of him, with an easy interpretation that he will be able to function as an edge guy or play in space inside/off the ball. Or in, terms of the Packers, Baun should be able to play all over the field in Mike Pettine’s 3-4 scheme.

Taking a linebacker in the first round will feel like a reach to a lot of Packers’ fans and followers. But Baun is a solid fit, surely better than perceived at a glance. And for what its worth, he’s a Wisconsin native as well as being a former Badger.

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