Chiefs Draft Review: Nick Bolton

Michael Travis Rose

After the Kansas City Chiefs selected Nick Bolton with their first pick in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft — pick #58 — it didn’t take long for the naysayers to lament Bolton’s lack of size for a linebacker, 5-foot-11″, 237 lbs.. ArrowheadOne reader freshmeat62 correctly pointed out in the AO Disqus comments, “… seems small by yesteryear standards, but about normal for today.”

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He’s right, too. Gone are the days of big, brawny, bruising linebackers. Twilight has slowly eclipsed the bygone era of gridiron glory days featuring fearsome, ferocious linebackers like Jack Lambert, Ray Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, and others over the past two decades. No, the new prototypical NFL linebacker is more on the sleek side. Comparatively smaller in stature than his predecessors, today’s linebacker is compact, but solid; athletic, fleet of foot, nimble enough to roam sideline to sideline with ease, and gifted with above average football IQ, oft times aware of what’s going to happen on the offensive side of the ball split-seconds before it happens. Nick Bolton is all those things… and more.

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Besides the ‘too small’ label misapplied to the Chiefs newest linebacker from the witless twits and twerps Twitter allows to tweet, knocks on Bolton include false claims that he can’t cover, and other vague, bass-ackwards, seemingly nonsensical insights such as ‘loses ground when pursuit flows wide’ and ‘needs to improve angles to elude box traffic’. Maybe I’m just dense, but what do these things even mean? Even if they are more than big words to make football pundits feel important and make them seem smart, are they not fixable with proper coaching? Just like Veach and Reid, in Spagnuolo I trust.

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Fortunately, the Bolton detractors are few and far between. More savvy NFL analysts see the true worth in the Chiefs second-rounder and applauded the pick. Of these, Dane Brugler of The Athletic positively gushed in his report on Bolton prior to the draft:

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“Agile feet and unrelenting play speed…mirrors runners laterally and hits the accelerator through the hole and into contact…physical striker and arrives at the ball carrier with bad intentions…decisive reads and won’t hesitate or wait for the ball carrier to get to him…outstanding anticipation versus the run to beat blockers to the spot…physical hands to work off blocks…can turn and run, covering up wheel or seem routes…intuitive by nature and a quick learner, he translates his tape study to the field…fiery and unforced mentality…well-respected by his teammates and described as a “consummate professional” by Missouri defensive coordinator Ryan Walters for his character and work ethic…durable and didn’t miss any games in college…highly productive starter, leading the team in tackles the last two seasons.”

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Burgler’s praise of the rookie linebacker is well-earned and is not without merit. Bolton graduated from Lone Star High School in his hometown of Frisco, TX a three star recruit. He flirted with several colleges, including Washington, Louisiana Tech, and Kansas, before finally to committing to the Missouri Tigers in 2018.

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As a Tiger, Bolton played in all 13 games as a true freshman, racking up 22 tackles and one sack. He stepped up his game in Mizzou’s 2019 campaign, leading the league with 8.9 tackles per game — 107 total — nabbing two INTs and breaking up 8 others. Despite nursing a nagging injury at the end of his 2020 season, Bolton lead the Tiger in tackles with 95 (including 7.5 for loss), two sacks, and broke up five passes in just ten starts. Bolton was a Butkus Award finalist, first-team All-SEC, and second-team Associated Press All-American in 2020. The over-achieving “tackling machine” was also a team captain in his final season in Columbia.

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Bolton being the highest-graded linebacker over the past two seasons (91.2) is also a nice bullet point to add to the rookie’s resume.

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However, success on the collegiate gridiron, does not always guarantee success at the professional level. In fact, it’s actually rare. The average career of an NFLer is but 3.3 years. Transitioning from college football to the fast-paced National Football League with its intricate schemes and elite athletes. Adversity abounds for rookies, regardless of their position.

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You don’t know Bolton, though. He’s no stranger to adversity. Not at all. When he was just a kid, doctors discovered a three-inch tumor in Bolton’s older sister Jazmin’s brain. Fortunately, surgeons successfully removed the tumor during an 11-hour surgery. As Jazmin was recovering, and it looked as if the family was through the worst of it, his mother, discovered she had breast cancer. The family weathered that storm, too. Thanks, in large part, to Bolton. His brother, Jayden, a wide receiver at Frisco Lone Star High School, breaks down the role Bolton plays in the family, “He’s done a lot for our family. He’s like another father in the family. He’s taken care of us.”

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Bolton’s high school coach, Jeff Rayburn, explains our new linebacker’s unique relationship with trials and tribulations, “Adversity reveals true character and anytime adversity has hit Nick Bolton, all he’s done is use that as motivation.”

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Chiefs Kingdom loves when a hometown boy becomes a Chief (yes, three years as a Missouri Tiger makes you a hometown boy). They love a great story about a plucky player overcoming obstacles in life, all the while striving for success, but mostly, they like a hard-hitting defensive “tackling machine” that’s going to have an immediate impact on the success of the Red and Gold. Mr. Nick Bolton gives us all three.

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Choosing Bolton was a stellar pick for the Chiefs and, honestly, one of the biggest steals of the 2021 NFL Draft. I can’t wait till we see the first double-team blitz by he and fellow Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay, Jr. this season. While my druthers are to see a crumpled, disheartened, whining (as always) Tom Brady at their feet after a successful Spagnuolo-strategized sack attack, any quarterback will do. I can’t wait.

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Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

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