DL Steve Linton transferring from Texas Tech to Baylor

[IthacaBarrel]

I think you have to try really hard to get upset about Linton going to Texas Tech.

Like the same amount of getting upset about Benson going to Georgia Tech last year, or Morris going to Utah.

yeah about at that level for sure

 

[JackBauer44]

And his 4.5 sacks good for like 3rd from the DLine. Heck Jobity had 3 in half the time. I liked Linton but we’ll survive his production.

But that doesn't fit the narrative of those who like to shout loudly.

 

[GoSU96]

I think you have to try really hard to get upset about Linton going to Texas Tech.

Like the same amount of getting upset about Benson going to Georgia Tech last year, or Morris going to Utah.

Or Harris or Devito or Jackson or Queeley or NHarris

 

[GoSU96]

Yea I get it. We lost our pass rush specialist, who was finally healthy and imo had a great year with what he was asked to do. I forgot we were overflowing with defensive lineman though. I’m also sure the $25k Texas Tech gives to all of their athletes didn’t factor into the equation either. Let’s not play this off like he wasn’t good enough to play here, but he can get on the field for Tech.

He made splash plays, I liked him from the start, but he didn’t leave here because he was poached by Texas tech using nil money. He was gone as soon as the season ended. He left because he wanted a change , not because a top 10 program wrote him a check

 

[anomander]

But that doesn't fit the narrative of those who like to shout loudly.

Ahhh, another everything will be just fine! Been singing the same tune for year's taking subtle shots at those who don’t tow the line and guess what? We’re still in the same spot. I'm not chasing likes for knowing the gap is widening, but have to stay in character to pretend this is what we finally needed to be consistently competitive. We’ll see when the gap explodes.

He made splash plays, I liked him from the start, but he didn’t leave here because he was poached by Texas tech using nil money. He was gone as soon as the season ended. He left because he wanted a change , not because a top 10 program wrote him a check

No he wanted out and he absolutely has that right because he earned his degree. But I’m not just chalking it up like others that it’s no big deal. We probably just lost one of our best pass rush specialists, and someone who was finally healthy and made more splash plays than almost all our defensive lineman even though he was mostly limited to passing downs. The way some people talk and dismiss him it’s like he have defensive ends that can get to the QB growing on tress just waiting for their number to be called is comical. Surprised for such a gadget player he ends up at Tech rather than Ga Souther, Arkansas St., or the rest that were politely told they will find more playing time elsewhere.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Ahhh, another everything will be just fine! Been singing the same tune for year's taking subtle shots at those who don’t tow the line and guess what? We’re still in the same spot. I'm not chasing likes for knowing the gap is widening, but have to stay in character to pretend this is what we finally needed to be consistently competitive. We’ll see when the gap explodes.

No he wanted out and he absolutely has that right because he earned his degree. But I’m not just chalking it up like others that it’s no big deal. We probably just lost one of our best pass rush specialists, and someone who was finally healthy and made more splash plays than almost all our defensive lineman even though he was mostly limited to passing downs. The way some people talk and dismiss him it’s like he have defensive ends that can get to the QB growing on tress just waiting for their number to be called is comical. Surprised for such a gadget player he ends up at Tech rather than Ga Souther, Arkansas St., or the rest that were politely told they will find more playing time elsewhere.

It's just exhausting reading the same thing every day. Take an SSRI and enjoy life. We're all realistic about SU's chances in the world. We have enough negativity. Obviously we'd rather keep every guy but that's not the world we live in anymore. Think everyone would rather have Linton than not.

I think the part you get wrong is how this can benefit other programs besides the top 10. A TON of talent is stockpiled at factories by design. Lots of guys have never had a shot to see the field. Are they going to be always as good as our best diamond in the rough guys? No. But some will. And some can be coached up. And some just need to see the field.

Alabama has been able to stockpile guys on their three deep that we'd kill to recruit. The immediate transfer doesn't help Alabama if the talent pool gets to spread around more. Kids want to play first, above all the NIL stuff. And they're only getting a huge NIL deal if they play for the most part. Obviously there's a negative to that for us too. But you can't just focus on the negative and ignore how factories have used the prior transfer rule to prevent talent from going to any type of competitor whatsoever. I've heard it directly from coaches (and not at SU mind you).

It's no difference than the business world. There are studies that show states without non competes foster more innovation and startups. People move jobs a lot more. They can get paid more. Stifling the movement of labor is what the big companies want to prevent others from competing.

 

[Trueblue25]

We have depth at DE and a hybrid LB who’s already better, Lowery.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

No big deal just a gadget guy lol

A DE at 220 who plays 25% of the snaps is exactly that, good pass rusher who I would rather have than not but that's what he is or at least what he was told he would be at Syracuse. Kid wasn't happy here and moved on so be it. Maybe he puts on weight and can see the field more a TT. He got his degree and moved on. He is replaceable as our most people in their current employment but hey die on the hill I get it.

 

[PhatOrange]

My comment on his sack totals wasn't praise. Those sacks #s are low (he actually only had 3.5) for someone being championed as a pass rush specialist. Jobity had 3 in only 8 games and a tiny percentage of snaps, Greer 3.5, Okechuckwu 7. Our run stuffing DE's had the same or more sacks, and Linton is not good against the run. Honestly Jobity looks better overall from they eye test.

If Linton is chasing more snaps and being an every down DE it wasn't going to happen here and it shouldn't, and I think his numbers bear that out vs his snaps. 22 tackles, 3.5 sacks. He did have 6 TFLS good for 5th on the team but again behind Greer (6.5 ) and Okechuckwu (10). and next season Jaquez and Simmons come back from injury, add in Jobity and Nolton. The room is crowded.

Defense & Fumbles​

		Tackles	Def Int	Fumbles
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Solo	Ast	Tot	Loss	Sk	Int	Yds	Avg	TD	PD	FR	Yds	TD	FF
2019	Syracuse	ACC	FR	DL	1	0	2	2	0.0	0.0	0	0		0	0	0			0
2020	Syracuse	ACC	FR	LB	7	11	3	14	0.5	0.0	0	0		0	0	1			0
2021	Syracuse	ACC	FR	LB	4	4	2	6	1.0	0.0	0	0		0	1	0			0
*2022	Syracuse	ACC	SO	LB	11	11	11	22	6.0	3.5	0	0		0	0	2	0	0	1
Career	Syracuse					26	18	44	7.5	3.5	0	0		0	1	3	0	0	1

 

[Nahson]

It's just exhausting reading the same thing every day. Take an SSRI and enjoy life. We're all realistic about SU's chances in the world. We have enough negativity. Obviously we'd rather keep every guy but that's not the world we live in anymore. Think everyone would rather have Linton than not.

I think the part you get wrong is how this can benefit other programs besides the top 10. A TON of talent is stockpiled at factories by design. Lots of guys have never had a shot to see the field. Are they going to be always as good as our best diamond in the rough guys? No. But some will. And some can be coached up. And some just need to see the field.

Alabama has been able to stockpile guys on their three deep that we'd kill to recruit. The immediate transfer doesn't help Alabama if the talent pool gets to spread around more. Kids want to play first, above all the NIL stuff. And they're only getting a huge NIL deal if they play for the most part. Obviously there's a negative to that for us too. But you can't just focus on the negative and ignore how factories have used the prior transfer rule to prevent talent from going to any type of competitor whatsoever. I've heard it directly from coaches (and not at SU mind you).

It's no difference than the business world. There are studies that show states without non competes foster more innovation and startups. People move jobs a lot more. They can get paid more. Stifling the movement of labor is what the big companies want to prevent others from competing.

My thing is that this is happening EVERYWHERE. The musical chairs that is the NIL and Coaching carousel hits every college to some degree, no one is immune. Understandably, the effects are magnified to us because its our team... but realistically, I don't see what is happening here as a huge deviation from what is happening elsewhere, especially amongst peer schools. Ultimately, I think this ends up helping SU. We will take our hits, but if the coaching staff focuses on the portal, we will be fine. I would actually like to a shift of less emphasis on HS kids, to more of a portal heavy approach. We will absorb less transfers YoY and get more game ready players. In the mean time, it's just navigating and minimalizing loss, while everything corrects itself.

SU isn't going to be a national power house any time soon, hope for a bid to the expanded playoffs should be the goal, but ultimately, consistent bowl bids/wins is the barometer.

 

[SuFTW]

Why would we blame his HS coach? He's been here 4 years and couldn't gain weight here. Some kids just can't gain weight due to their genetics. Doubt its because Linton isn't trying.

His Coach was bad mouthing SU for Linton’s inability to gain weight.

 

[CbusCuse]

We have depth at DE and a hybrid LB who’s already better, Lowery.

This is a good point. Unless Lowery is a starting LB, he may take Linton's pass rush role as a DE in pass rushing situations instead of just playing LB. Or even then he could drop down to DE and we sub in another LB. Linton is already 6'4" and 225 lbs so he already has a size advantage over Linton and is a really good pass rusher himself.

 

[Trueblue25]

This is a good point. Unless Lowery is a starting LB, he may take Linton's pass rush role as a DE in pass rushing situations instead of just playing LB. Or even then he could drop down to DE and we sub in another LB. Linton is already 6'4" and 225 lbs so he already has a size advantage over Linton and is a really good pass rusher himself.

Not to mention Thompson returns in 2023 and frequently lines up on the edge. Thats an NFL prospect.

We are completely fine when it comes to this transfer

 

[JackBauer44]

Ahhh, another everything will be just fine! Been singing the same tune for year's taking subtle shots at those who don’t tow the line and guess what? We’re still in the same spot. I'm not chasing likes for knowing the gap is widening, but have to stay in character to pretend this is what we finally needed to be consistently competitive. We’ll see when the gap explodes.

No he wanted out and he absolutely has that right because he earned his degree. But I’m not just chalking it up like others that it’s no big deal. We probably just lost one of our best pass rush specialists, and someone who was finally healthy and made more splash plays than almost all our defensive lineman even though he was mostly limited to passing downs. The way some people talk and dismiss him it’s like he have defensive ends that can get to the QB growing on tress just waiting for their number to be called is comical. Surprised for such a gadget player he ends up at Tech rather than Ga Souther, Arkansas St., or the rest that were politely told they will find more playing time elsewhere.

Lol. This is the second time you've replied to one of my posts and I'll again point out I've been telling people for two years now that Dino doesn't represent the best interests for this program in the long haul. He bought himself a year last year with his hires, and bought himself another year this season by making a bowl.

This fallacy of "chasing likes" or "everything is fine" is really weird man. There doesn't have to be this extreme notion of "everything is fine - we are great the way we are" VS. "Burn the ship down, we're losing all these players we can't lose - the gap is widening and we are always going to struggle". You can be happy about progress being made and still believe improvements to the program can be made to make sure we are continuously improving.

Linton's gone. It sucks. It was nice to let him loose on 3rd downs. However, he I'm not going to sit here and pretend what he did isn't replaceable. That's what football is - next man up. If you need to come at me to make yourself feel better about the situation - i'm here for you man. Let me know If I can help otherwise.

 

[Whitey23]

Texas Tech boosters to offer $25K per player

A Red Raiders booster said the deals will serve 'as sort of a base salary for the whole locker room.'

theathletic.com

Flexing its muscle: Tech making strides in NIL game

Board member for Red Raiders' donor collective says more teamwide deals on the way soon

www.lubbockonline.com

 

[orangepassion]

Duce and Jahad are losses. I'm not sweating this one.

 

[money3189]

No big deal just a gadget guy lol

Looks like you are the only one saying he was a big loss

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So we do have it confirmed that Linton is leaving with his degree?

Way I see it, a guy that earns his degree has fulfilled all of his commitments. If he still has eligibility, he can do whatever he'd like next.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Lol. This is the second time you've replied to one of my posts and I'll again point out I've been telling people for two years now that Dino doesn't represent the best interests for this program in the long haul. He bought himself a year last year with his hires, and bought himself another year this season by making a bowl.

This fallacy of "chasing likes" or "everything is fine" is really weird man. There doesn't have to be this extreme notion of "everything is fine - we are great the way we are" VS. "Burn the ship down, we're losing all these players we can't lose - the gap is widening and we are always going to struggle". You can be happy about progress being made and still believe improvements to the program can be made to make sure we are continuously improving.

Linton's gone. It sucks. It was nice to let him loose on 3rd downs. However, he I'm not going to sit here and pretend what he did isn't replaceable. That's what football is - next man up. If you need to come at me to make yourself feel better about the situation - i'm here for you man. Let me know If I can help otherwise.

Good post and I guess over the past 20 years I have just gotten to the point that I am going to support the current coach and hope for the best. Took me a while to get there for sure. If and when the administration decides that Dino isn't the guy for the job then I will support the new coach. I do not look forward to starting over though, now more than ever it's just such a painful process. Do I think Dino is perfect? I do not. I wasn't a fan of Shafer because I thought he was a goof ball and I think his actions when he was the coach and when he came back to coach in the dome proved that. I think Dino does a lot of good and always represents the university very well. I just don't see the point in discussing possible new coaches or if the coach will be fired.

I think the objective is very clear, Dino makes bowl games he stays and while a 6-6 season is a far cry from perfect or even good, it is the expectation set by Wildhack himself and until Dino NOW does not meet the expectations he will be our coach. If he goes 7-5 again I would expect a reasonable extension that works for both parties and we fight on and try to keep building something. A losing record this year and I would expect the university to move on but until then I just don't see the point. Quite honestly, I think it's a waste of time and energy

With regard to the portal and kids leaving, staff staying and leaving all part of Dino's job and for him to manage as he sees fit but it does not change the expectations one bit. he's out of time for that. Nobody can say that Dino wasn't given every opportunity at Syracuse to try and be successful, limitations and all. The expectations are more than reasonable

 

[RF2044]

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't get the extreme interpretations. I haven't seen anybody suggest that Linton wasn't valuable. He contributed more than sacks; he had good instincts and found ways to make plays.

But he was also a liability against the run, undersized, couldn't put on weight in three years, and due to being "small" relative to other DE's wasn't a three-down player.

Both sets of observations can be true at the same time.

As many others have stated, I'd rather have him than not. And him transferring to a P5 shows that his skill set is valued.

I'm just not sure that he's better than either Okechukwu, Geer, or Jobity -- clearly, he was faster which enabled him to do some things that they couldn't but was "smaller" which prevented him from doing some things those guys can.

So in the main, his productivity isn't irreplaceable. Acknowledging that isn't burying one's head in the sand and pretending that he wasn't a contributor.

 

[money3189]

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't get the extreme interpretations. I haven't seen anybody suggest that Linton wasn't valuable. He contributed more than sacks; he had good instincts and found ways to make plays.

But he was also a liability against the run, undersized, couldn't put on weight in three years, and due to being "small" relative to other DE's wasn't a three-down player.

Both sets of observations can be true at the same time.

As many others have stated, I'd rather have him than not. And him transferring to a P5 shows that he has value.

I'm just not sure that he's better than either Okechukwu, Geer, or Jobity -- clearly, he was faster which enabled him to do some things that they couldn't but was "smaller" which prevented him from doing some things those guys can.

So in the main, his productivity isn't irreplaceable. Acknowledging that isn't burying one's head in the sand and pretending that he wasn't a contributor.

This ^^

 

[Willy75]

Good post and I guess over the past 20 years I have just gotten to the point that I am going to support the current coach and hope for the best. Took me a while to get there for sure. If and when the administration decides that Dino isn't the guy for the job then I will support the new coach. I do not look forward to starting over though, now more than ever it's just such a painful process. Do I think Dino is perfect? I do not. I wasn't a fan of Shafer because I thought he was a goof ball and I think his actions when he was the coach and when he came back to coach in the dome proved that. I think Dino does a lot of good and always represents the university very well. I just don't see the point in discussing possible new coaches or if the coach will be fired.

I think the objective is very clear, Dino makes bowl games he stays and while a 6-6 season is a far cry from perfect or even good, it is the expectation set by Wildhack himself and until Dino NOW does not meet the expectations he will be our coach. If he goes 7-5 again I would expect a reasonable extension that works for both parties and we fight on and try to keep building something. A losing record this year and I would expect the university to move on but until then I just don't see the point. Quite honestly, I think it's a waste of time and energy

With regard to the portal and kids leaving, staff staying and leaving all part of Dino's job and for him to manage as he sees fit but it does not change the expectations one bit. he's out of time for that. Nobody can say that Dino wasn't given every opportunity at Syracuse to try and be successful, limitations and all. The expectations are more than reasonable

I believe Dino’s contract currently runs through the 2024 season. That being said I think SU almost has to give an extension this offseason; I’d think one or two years and a much diminished buyou.

 

[GoSU96]

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't get the extreme interpretations. I haven't seen anybody suggest that Linton wasn't valuable. He contributed more than sacks; he had good instincts and found ways to make plays.

But he was also a liability against the run, undersized, couldn't put on weight in three years, and due to being "small" relative to other DE's wasn't a three-down player.

Both sets of observations can be true at the same time.

As many others have stated, I'd rather have him than not. And him transferring to a P5 shows that his skill set is valued.

I'm just not sure that he's better than either Okechukwu, Geer, or Jobity -- clearly, he was faster which enabled him to do some things that they couldn't but was "smaller" which prevented him from doing some things those guys can.

So in the main, his productivity isn't irreplaceable. Acknowledging that isn't burying one's head in the sand and pretending that he wasn't a contributor.

Yep

 

[SoBristol]

Agree that Linton was valuable. But we have (for us) unusual depth at his position while we could use portal help, or HS recruits in other units. Trade Linton’s spot for a DB, or a RB, or a TE or a fast slot receiver and the team can benefit.

 

[anomander]

It's just exhausting reading the same thing every day. Take an SSRI and enjoy life. We're all realistic about SU's chances in the world. We have enough negativity. Obviously we'd rather keep every guy but that's not the world we live in anymore. Think everyone would rather have Linton than not.

I think the part you get wrong is how this can benefit other programs besides the top 10. A TON of talent is stockpiled at factories by design. Lots of guys have never had a shot to see the field. Are they going to be always as good as our best diamond in the rough guys? No. But some will. And some can be coached up. And some just need to see the field.

Alabama has been able to stockpile guys on their three deep that we'd kill to recruit. The immediate transfer doesn't help Alabama if the talent pool gets to spread around more. Kids want to play first, above all the NIL stuff. And they're only getting a huge NIL deal if they play for the most part. Obviously there's a negative to that for us too. But you can't just focus on the negative and ignore how factories have used the prior transfer rule to prevent talent from going to any type of competitor whatsoever. I've heard it directly from coaches (and not at SU mind you).

It's no difference than the business world. There are studies that show states without non competes foster more innovation and startups. People move jobs a lot more. They can get paid more. Stifling the movement of labor is what the big companies want to prevent others from competing.

You tell me it’s exhausting reading the same stuff and to enjoy life and yet follow it up by telling me I’m wrong, and telling me exactly how I’m wrong. It sounds like you don’t understand or accept where we are in the current landscape of college football? The gap is widening . Unfortunately , I guess we’ll have to find out the hard way.

You can mute me if you want to. No feelings hurt here.