Reports: Zack Baun Told NFL Teams About Diluted Sample from Combine
Wisconsin outside linebacker and potential early NFL draft pick Zack Baun has told the league's 32 franchises that he tested "positive for a diluted sample" taken at the scouting combine, according to a Tuesday report by ESPN.com's Adam Schefter.
Schefter tweeted that Baun explained that the diluted urine result came from "drinking too much water for weight-related weigh-in purposes." NFL.com's player profile noted his combine measurables were 6'2 and 238 pounds. Wisconsin listed the linebacker at 235 pounds on its 2019 roster.
However, as the veteran NFL insider states, the league's new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) changed some rules regarding reported findings like this:
Later on Tuesday afternoon, NFL.com posted a story that reporter Ian Rapoport acquired a letter delivered to the organizations from Baun and his team addressing it. That note stated that the linebacker "was genuinely confused, upset and embarrassed by the results given the fact that the 'dilute' was the result of him drinking significant amounts of water before his weigh-in (the urine test occurred immediately thereafter)."
As Kevin Patra later wrote in the article, "A diluted sample due to overconsumption of water can be used to mask other banned substances that could be traced in a urine sample."
In a Tuesday appearance on ESPN (h/t to the Wisconsin State Journal's Colten Bartholomew), however, Schefter noted the following:
"Now keep in mind, his weight at the Senior Bowl was 242 pounds. He was in the mid-to-high 230s at the combine. I'm told he was drinking a ton of water, trying to get that weight up and obviously it came back and resulted in a positive test result for a diluted sample.
"Here's the interesting twist to the whole story right now. Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, it will not count against Zack Baun as a strike. Under the terms of the old collective bargaining agreement, it would have. So teams look at this test, and while I'm sure they don't like hearing about it, I don't think they're overly concerned about it. I think they're buying the story. I think they believe it, and I think they're not going to put too much credence in it, and now he still could go in the first round or in the second round."
Baun has seen his name scattered among various mock drafts as a potential late first-round or early second-round pick, though he was not projected to be a Day 1 selection in the MMQB.com's latest iteration on Monday.
In Kevin Hanson's recent five-round mock for Sports Illustrated on April 9, the draft analyst predicted Baun to be the first pick of the second round at No. 33 to the Cincinnati Bengals.
AllBadgers.com has reached out to agency representation for comment and confirmation of the initial Schefter report.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, former Wisconsin Badger and current Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Joe Schobert tweeted his thoughts.
