#11

Austin Valdez

Linebacker for Syracuse. 2017: 38 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

LB · Syracuse · #11

6′1″ · 236 lb · Sylvania, OH

Syracuse 2017 alumnus

Recruiting

2★

DUAL recruit

No. 2087 nationally · Signed with Bowling Green

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2017 linebacker for Syracuse. 2017: 38 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Bowling Green in 2013.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Syracuse, 96 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2013

Signed with Bowling Green2-star out of Sylvania Southview

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2087 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2014–2017

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2014–2017

2 coaches

2014–2015

Scott Shafer

Syracuse

2016–2017

Dino Babers

Syracuse

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Scott Shafer → Dino Babers. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2017 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2014Bowling Green8-6HC: Dino Babers · Pass-leaning

2015Bowling Green10-4HC: Dino Babers · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2016Bowling Green4-8HC: Mike Jinks · Balanced, fast tempo

2017Syracuse4-8HC: Dino Babers · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#1010 / 2682 · 62nd pct

Solo tackles#1036 / 2682 · 60th pct

Sacks#1228 / 2682 · 52nd pct

0.5

Tackles for loss#1583 / 2682 · 38th pct

1.5

QB hurries#1249 / 2682 · 27th pct

Passes defended#1669 / 2682 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2017 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	5.0	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road5g	3.6	0.1	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.4	0.3	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	5.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Fran Brown

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2017

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2017	Syracuse	38	22	1.5	0.5	--	--	--
2016	Bowling Green	58	21	1.0	0.0	2	--	--
2015	Bowling Green	--	--	--	--	--	2	--
2014	Bowling Green	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Career		96	43	2.5	0.5	2	2	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week