Which one(s) won’t be back would’ve been less confusing way to phrase it, my bad.

I think Gay will be gone outright, and I think Tranquill is going to play himself into some big money that we won't be able to afford this season.

Yeah, but what’s crazy is, DJ took a few years to get rolling. Including a benching by Todd Haley that seemed to light a fire under him. Bolton already has “it”, and that’s scary… for every other team in the league.

I kind of disagree Gay will be gone. It seems pretty trendy to assume that but unless he has anymore off the field stuff I think he's staying

I think hes been pretty up and down, is the second best line backer on this team, may be the third best, and will get a middle of the road contract.

Yeah, he brings a lot of value with his speed. Him forcing Hurts to throw it away on a third down late in the SB was huge. That made Philly punt which set up Toney for the longest PR in SB history.

Gay just seems like a player you want on your team, right?

Huge and physical, fantastic athlete, infectious energy. Just seems like a guy you'd want on your team.

That being said... I fear he's about to be supplanted.

By who?

Lol wut?

That's Tranquill's strength. Sounds like your buddy has completely unrealistic expectations for LBs in pass coverage.

Also, there's not a single LB that can cover Kelce.

I think Tranquil really ends up in the Niemen role. Maybe im wrong but i just dont see him pushing willie out all the time. Gay is such a ****ing specimen. And its not like hes been just terrible.

Tranquill is only making $3 million, that screams role player, plus he basically said as much in the recent article talking about Andy recruiting him.

That said, he'll be amazing in the Niemann role, it was tailor made for him.

One of the two will be had for under market value next year, simply because they will cannibalize tackles from each other.

We will not be keeping Gay and Bolton. One of them will not get the big deal. Probably Gay moving on.

Tranquil could be here to hurt Gays pass coverage snaps and drive down his market value...? Conspiracy, but Vart Beach plays 4d chess.

wow

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F1kYZqxX...jpg&name=large

In my head I wouldnt expect him that high, then you look at the list and its kind of like yeah that makes a lot of sense.

Watch Nick Bolton be the DPOY

Man is it me or is Matt Milano massively overrated around the NFL?

It’s just you. Buffalo’s defense is on a different level when Milano is on the field. He does everything very well.

Ehhhh. This might be the first time I’ve ever seen Bolton overrated. I would think closer to 90 until he can improve in coverage. Yes, I just took a madden ranking seriously

I completely forgot Anthony Hitchens existed until scrolling back in this thread. Man he was a bum. One of Veach’s biggest misses

Now back to homer glasses on. IF Bolton can take a step against the pass, and if George can improve off his rookie year… am I crazy to think we could have a top 7-8 defense?

Edit: I see now that was a fake madden ranking :facepalm:

I would put Warner well over him. But watching the Mahomes tear that shitbox defense apart really skews what we see.

Hitchens was a good leader and smart, he was instrumental in implementing spags defense, he wasn't great, but far from a bum...

Then why has no one signed him still? He was cut by Veach and no one wanted him.

Imagine being Hitch and watching Ben Niemen get signed and you havent had a ****ing visit in two years.

That’s just the ‘pursuit’ rating

I wasn't a huge Hitchens fan, but he played pretty well in our first SB run. He was big in stopping Derrick Henry in that playoff game. He wasn't horrible, but he never should have been starting over Bolton.

Totally agree. Dude is a stud.

Matt Milano is awesome

My favorite play of Milano's is the one where he tried to cover Kelce in OT in the divisional a couple years ago.

https://img.rasset.ie/001aef9d-800.jpg

The fact that he managed to be that close is kind of a miracle itself.

But we'd love that guy if he played for the Chiefs

I didn't say he wasn't awesome. I said he's overrated.

The best LB in the NFL? Really?

Isn't that chart ranking just for PURSUIT?

Pursuit is great and all, but at some point you actually have to catch the guy.

He was there, never made a big play. I don't even think once. His biggest play IMO was that monster block on a fumble or interception but it was a penalty. He's a JAG at best. With him there, our LB core was a huge weakness until Willie Gay and Nick Bolton started playing together and he was gone. Now it's our strength.

Hitchens was horrible. It's no mistake he didn't even get a sniff after being released.

Still pissed that 2nd fumble TD recovery got taken away from him in the super bowl

He made up for his lack of speed with terrible tackling. But at least he could be counted on to instantly be swallowed up by a single blocker in his last two years here.

If it hadn't then Pat might not have gotten SB MVP and I think it's better for our team that Pat has two.

He's ****ing good. Like really ****ing good. But he ain't covering Kelce.

I will never forget him literally running away from the ball carrier in that loss against the Bills.

Was absolutely dumbfounded.

https://i.imgur.com/GsbJiaV.png

https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-18-2015/Aab4j5.gif

This is pursuit not overall….

i still get comments on my video about this game months later

this game will always be the real super bowl, and remembered as a far greater game in the annals of nfl history

One stat to know for all 32 NFL teams before the 2023 season
By Dalton Wasserman
Jul 28, 2023


KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
The Chiefs are an offensive juggernaut, but it could be argued that their defense was just as important during their most recent Super Bowl run. Chris Jones is a monster and they got a ton of production from young players in the secondary. The unsung hero of the group is linebacker Nick Bolton, who is well on his way to being a star.

Nick Bolton’s 78.4 career overall grade is the second-best mark of any linebacker drafted since 2020, only behind Micah Parsons (minimum 200 snaps). The caveat to Parsons is that he’s spent the majority of his time on the edge and is most productive when blitzing from a linebacker spot. Meanwhile, Bolton plays a more traditional role, leading that same group of players with an 83.5 run-defense grade. He’s arguably the best young linebacker in the league.


https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-one-sta...ms-2023-season

Nick Bolton is super underrated, but I think that ends this year.

Absolutely love this group of LBs. Best we’ve had in a long damn time.

Yeah, getting a little nervous about his re-sign cap number…

will deserve every penny. idgaf about the price or the positional value blah blah suck my dick. we saw what it was like post-dj on defense.

never ****ing again dude. never ****ing again.

Youre about a year too late, and I think under rated is the wrong word. Maybe before last year. But after last year he is one of the top rated inside linebackers in the league.



Hes not a household name so maybe he is not famous or well known. But he is rated quite highly.


179 tackles


superbowl winning plays


hes about #3 overall rated linebacker to start this season


https://i.postimg.cc/RVK52PJ4/LB-top-5.jpg

Bolton is the QB of the defense. He is a guy that KC needs to keep long term.

He was an overturned call from stealing MVP from Mahomes in the SB.

totally and he was like all-rookie team his 1st year with 112 tackles on 16 starts


started every game last year with 180 tackles (108 solo)


i think only one LB in the league had more solo tackles and combined tackles

In my mind he had 2 TDs. That call was absolutely bullshit. Same with a lame ass call the Eagles got on a "catch" down the sideline.

I'm still a little bent out of shape that he wasn't starting from Day 1

he basically did


he had about 80% of the defensive snaps in the games during the 1st half of his rookie season and "started" 12 of the 17 games. I think he mightve been a little banged up toward the middle/end of the 1st season which is why his snap count actually got less toward the end of that rookie season. (as opposed to the opposite)



The thing thats crazy about his second season (last year) is that he stayed on the field every damn snap almost. close to what eric berry did, but not quite. To only miss about 1 snap in the last 10 games is pretty nutty. Plus getting like 11 tackles a game...


The guy is my favorite chief not named mahomes

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;They should let us get busy back there at running back&quot; 🤣<br><br>We mic&#39;d up <a href="https://twitter.com/_nickbolton2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_nickbolton2</a> during our week 2 win. <a href="https://t.co/7HAOVB0jKn">pic.twitter.com/7HAOVB0jKn</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1704635287173812317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'm convinced, give Bolton all of CEH's carries.

I really love watching him play. He has a nose for the ball and just rarely misses a tackle.

We can absolutely pay Bolton and we probably should. When you're an off-ball LB like Bolton who just makes the play and the tackle 99% of the time no matter what, it's like having an elite safety back there. It cleans up all of your problems.

Probably won't be able to keep Jones. But if we have to choose one or the other, I'd rather roll with in-his-prime Bolton with cheaper (but hopefully mostly reliable) interior DTs in front of him.

Is Bolton (insert amount) better than Tranquill? Cause there's a Tranquill available every year.

"Let's go O, we got y'all boys!"

****ing love that leadership.

Bolton's not Ragland out there, folks. He's not just a replaceable run-stuffer. That's your team leader. That's the guy telling Leo where to go as the play is happening.

That's a guy who's so sound against the run that it will change gameplans. Teams are going to be hesitant to do that ground and pound shit against us because they just can't. He's as instrumental to our run defense as Jones is to the pass rush.

He and Humphrey are my 'must extend' guys and I'll just sadly wave at Sneed because I know that we can't pay him. And if letting Sneed go lets us keep Danna as the third guy out of those draft classes, I can live with that because I think Danna will continue to ascend.

I've said this since the Sutton days - offense is about stars that can make something from nothing. Defense is about simply not having a weakness that teams can exploit. You let Bolton walk and you're creating a weakness both in terms of your run defense and in terms of your communication.

He's hugely important.

Weren't you against paying for "leadership" in the Frank Clark debate?

Frank Clark wasn't a leader - he was just a loudmouth.

Guys don't follow bums and Clark was a bum. Guys don't follow dudes who take entire months off and Clark took entire months off.

Clark just wouldn't shut up. We all knew that guy in High School and none of us gave a shit what he had to say. We also knew the guy that played with his hair on fire, knew his shit every down and went hard every snap. We listened to that guy.

I dunno, for all his faults, guys seemed to listen to Frank.

I think your MU bias is showing here.

MU Fans don't have a bias for their former players. By and large we shit on them WORSE than we do other guys.

But yeah, I loved Bolton going back to my STH for Mizzou. It's less about him being a former Mizzou player and more about him being a guy I watched every Saturday and who I saw improve week over week, year over year.

He's just a damn good ballplayer and his teammates respond to him.

Anyone who is against paying Bolton doesn’t remember our Run D before him. Oh, and he’s 23

Yeah I dont give a **** about off ball LBer value and whatever else. This guys a ****ing baller. I want him on my team.

Jabril Cox?!?

This. We typically don't want ANY former Mizzou players. That's how you knew Bolton was going to be good; we actually loved this guy. He WAS the Mizzou defense for a good 2 years when they had little else.

BTW, we love Luther as well. Might check into that guy.

LMAO

I think the biggest thing the defense has going for it is it has alot of talent all over it and it's all young.

Young and aggressive, with some good leaders. It's a nice set up.

Yeah - that guy's gonna go top 10. He has everything you want in a player.

Hopefully 'Bama's rocky season doesn't have them opening the NLI bag and sniping him this off-season...

Have Veach/Reid whiffed on a single Mizzou player yet? Morse was/is good. Booger did what he was supposed to do. I can assume Gabbert will do the same if not better.

Long gone are the days when we'd draft Will Franklin and get nothing.

**** it, I'll ask...WTF is an "off ball" linebacker, and is there an example of an "on ball" linebacker. Thanks, I'll hang up and listen...

"On the ball" as far as I've ever known essentially means on the LOS.

Justin Houston and Tamba Hali -- 'on ball linebackers' because they were typically lined up as rushers on the DL.

Derrick Johnson and Nick Bolton - off ball backers as they just line up behind the LOS.

Honestly, you could just say 4-3 LBer and those are all off-ball backers as far as I'm concerned. 3-4 OLBs are 'on-ball' linebackers.

But hell, I could be completely wrong. That's just how I use it.

I've been saying "off-ball" because I see other people using the term. I'm kind of part of the problem.

I saw people using the term when Darius Leonard got paid, and it hasn't gone away, so I just try to keep up with the Joneses.

I refuse to say "EDGE" though. That one is stupid. I don't care if it's a more efficient and all-encompassing term for any LB or DE who can rush off the edge. For some reason every form of draft media is now using that term, but whenever you look at a depth chart or hear commentary during games regarding those positions, they always just identify it as "Here's the DE" or "Here's the OLB." They don't say EDGE. And when players introduce themselves on SNF, you don't hear, "Micah Parsons, EDGE, Penn State." If players don't call themselves that shit, why should I do it only when they're draft prospects?

I've learned to think of linebackers these days as "off ball" and "edge", pretty much being translations of inside and outside linebackers, but with some nuance.

I think the difference between 3-4 and 4-3 formations has somewhat disappeared, because we often see even two-man lines. So now you've got a bunch of guys who are bigger and they may be on the line or they may be off the line, but their job is mostly to get into the backfield. They're pass rushers on passing downs and they stand the line on rushing downs, basically the same as an old school 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB. They're just both nowadays.

I see "off ball" linebackers as guys who aren't as big as the edge players. They're typically behind the linemen and edge guys, and they're covering the short pass routes, getting out to the edges, and shooting gaps on running plays. Their job is to make tackles and break up passes rather than rushing the passer. They're more like a traditional old-school middle linebacker, but they're playing anywhere inside or outside.

Bolton and Gay are quintessential off-ball linebackers according to this definition. They're fast sideline to sideline players. Guys like Dee Ford and Justin Houston were edge players. Chenal is probably an edge, though he's kind of unclassifiable: 40 percent DL, 40 percent off ball, 20 percent edge.

I actually kind of like the fact that defenses aren't set formations any more. It's just the best 11 guys for the situation.

Nick Bolton is a strong man.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Bolton mashed David Montgomery into a fine paste THEN got him flagged 15 yards for tripping <a href="https://t.co/DWpNn6EMH9">pic.twitter.com/DWpNn6EMH9</a></p>&mdash; Christian D&#39;Andrea (@TrainIsland) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrainIsland/status/1699974827967136229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Still can’t get over Nick Bolton rag-dolling Penei Sewell, who is 6 inches taller and 100 pounds heavier. <a href="https://t.co/aFtyC38b8t">pic.twitter.com/aFtyC38b8t</a></p>&mdash; Adam Best (@Arrowhead_Adam) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arrowhead_Adam/status/1700254951057052028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sooooo.... how hurt is Bolton? Still not practicing today. When he grabbed his ankle during the game I just about threw my beer because I was SURE he blew an Achilles. Then he was just back out there. Now, thought he hasn't been practicing and they list him with an ankle. Anybody worried?

Boltons instincts are as good as I've ever seen.

Like Mahomes, he has an extra sense of what's going on. It's far more impressive to me than athleticism.