Budda Baker is an American football safety for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington and was selected by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Baker participated in the NFL Combine and was successful in all of the positional and combine drills that he was assigned. He took part in Washington’s Pro Day, although all he did was run positional exercises in front of more than fifty NFL team representatives and scouts.
Baker was anticipated to be selected in the second round of the NFL draft by the vast majority of experts and commentators.
Despite the fact that he displayed fluidity, agility, speed, desire, and strong ball skills, and performed well in coverage, several clubs were concerned about his lack of size and how it would affect his ability to play in the NFL. They feared that it would limit his potential to play in the league.
NFL analyst Mike Mayock ranked him as the best Nickelback available in the draft. NFLDraftScout.com listed him as the second-best free safety prospect, and both Sports Illustrated and ESPN ranked him as the fourth-best safety in the draft.
Why do they call him Budda Baker?
According to the Seattle Times, Baker’s mother gave him the moniker not long after he was born. When he was a newborn, he reportedly looked like a “little Buddha doll,” thus the name stuck.
While the ‘h’ didn’t stick, Budda became the boy’s identity. “It’s my name now,” he explained. “I don’t really like being called Bishard.”