Who Ya Gonna Call? Chiefs Linebackers!
by Laddie Morse
When you consider that Nick Bolton was the Chiefs Rookie of the Year in 2021, and Willie Gay is now entering his third campaign, plus the addition of “downhill thumper” Leo Chenal, the Chiefs defense will be calling on their LBs to help with a host of needs they identified over the offseason.
So, what are some of those needs? How about improvement in coverage. How about tackles for a loss. How about stopping the running game. So, why wasn’t it better in 2021. Two words: Hitchens and Niemann.
Now, the linebacking corps will bump Nick Bolton forward to the starting MLB position this year… Willie Gay will get more snaps at the WILL position and the 103rd player in the draft, Leo Chenal will round out a superior linebacking crew (as far as starters go).
Those are not to only names the Linebacking crew has been reshaped with this year. Those names include:
Jermaine Carter – 6-1, 225: a 27 year old who is a fifth 5th year LB taken in the fifth round by Carolina in 2018, brings experience to the group. He had 90 tackles per year during his last three seasons at the University of Maryland.
Elijah Lee – 6-2, 229: a 26 year old in his sixth year out of Kansas State, attended Blue Springs High School. He was a 7th round pick with the Vikings in 2017.
Darius Harris – 6-2, 240: a 26 year old in his third year out of Middle Tennessee. A UDFA with K.C. in 2019.
Mike Rose – 6-4, 250: a UDFA rookie who was sign after the draft out of Iowa State.
Jack Cochrane – 6-3, 230: a UDFA rookie who was sign after the draft out of South Dakota.
Aside from the starters, this may be the strongest group of LBs the Chiefs have had since Derrick Thomas roamed the field.
Last year, the Chiefs keep four LBs, five if you include Dorian O’Daniel who had 4 total defensive snaps (2%) all season long. Although I think the Chiefs will keep five LBs this season, I’m not going to predict who those five will be, but it’s safe to say someone will be going to the Practice Squad and likely see game action later in the year.
The Chiefs new LB Coach is Brendan Daly, who was the DL coach last year, said this about Nick Bolton:
“He’s grown from a mental standpoint, he’s grown from a communication standpoint and he’s grown from a leadership standpoint. It’s been really fun to watch, and impressive, to be honest. It’s pretty amazing the amount that he’s handling at such a young age. There are times that I have to [remind myself] that he’s only in his second year.”
Bolton improved in coverage over the last half of the 2021 season. He said recently:
“The biggest thing for me is zone coverage. That’s one of things I wanted to improve on this offseason. It’s probably the part of my game I was lacking the most. So, I’m just trying to get better with that aspect of it and also just becoming more crisp in the scheme.”
Some fans forget that Willie Gay has once run a 4.46 40 yard dash and is credited with the solid 4.51, Derrick Johnson once turned in a 4.52. Gay was in on 25% of the defensive snaps as a rookie then leaped up to 57% of the snaps as a sophomore LB. There should be an even bigger jump in his snap totals this year. One problem I see Gay over coming is his own athleticism. Many times a player who possesses speed leans too much on that speed and forgets that football is a thinking person’s game. Gay seems to have learned that’s it’s better to figure out the play than use his catch-up speed once a runner has passed him by. It could be that Willie Gay’s play will improve this year simply because he and Nick Bolton have grown closer:
I’ll be surprised if Leo Chenal only gets 25% of the defensive snaps in 2022, even though that’s what Willie Gay had in his rookie season. Chenal was named the “Big Ten Linebacker of the Year” (the Butkus–Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Award ) last year and the AFCA First-team All-American. I think a lot of fans are sleeping on Leo Chenal and he’ll be in the running for Chiefs Rookie of the year in 2022.
What do you think? Think this year group of Linebacker should be highly touted like I do?
.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
.