He’s a stud and he’s going to be one of the league’s best MLBs.

Me want gifs of Bolton doing football things.


Please.

Many of us have been preaching about this guy for a while.

Kids a baller.

I got my years mixed up. I meant 2022. I fully expect him to be the man in the middle next year, and hopefully last night proves to them that they can live with Gay or Bolton in the dime package.

Setting up the stops in LA
tipping the ball for Hitch to play

That hit he put on Mike Williams in the first quarter was a real tone setter. Williams had to leave the game for the rest of that series and didn't make another catch across the middle IIRC.

Wow.

Honestly, Nick Bolton gives me just as much of a rock hard boner as his cousin

Michael Bolton does.



https://www.classicpopmag.com/wp-con...68dba7f14a.jpg

Nick Bolton now has 102 tackles.

The last Chiefs LB to do that was Derrick Johnson SIX YEARS AGO.

I dont know if they are doing it to get him ready to spell Kelce and keep him fresh, or just trying to sharpen another weapon for the playoff run.

WHAT.

That may be the most amazing stat on this team this season.

How on earth is a part time LB racking up 100 tackles in 14 games?

I was wrong BTW. Hitchens had 135 in 2018.

Still.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All this 4th down talk is distracting us from the fact that Joshua Kelley tried to jump over an unblocked defender with the ball stretched out from the 3-yard line <a href="https://t.co/q2Z787FZqk">pic.twitter.com/q2Z787FZqk</a></p>&mdash; Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF_Mike/status/1471838649310494722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He has played 62% of the snaps LMAO

He's been so much fun to watch transitioning to the NFL after watching him stick out like a sore thumb on some pretty mediocre Mizzou defenses. And yeah, he doesn't have the elite speed that someone like Gay has but every team needs a thumper and we clearly have ours. His lack of speed and susceptibility against the pass was always going to be the knock on his game....but unless my bias is clouding my judgement he's no slower than Hitchens has become at this point in his career. That guy seems like he's wearing concrete shoes half the time.

We tried to tell y'all.

Mizzou fans are hard on our own guys and Bolton was one of the most universally respected players the Tigers have had in recent memory.

There was just no way this guy wasn't going to be a good football player. Now there's still a question as to whether or not his ultimate ceiling will be Marvcus Patton or London Fletcher (y'know, were London Fletcher not an immortal due to feeding on the blood of infants), but nobody will get more out of their talent on this roster than he will.

This kid can play football.

Right?

What kind of rocket up his ass did he think he had? I guess maybe he was thinking it was 2nd down and any extra few feet he could get would set them up that much better on 3rd (and inevitably 4th) but.....nah, that dude just wasn't thinking at all.

Because that was duuuuuuuuumb.

Not a super important question, but how would you rate his leadership capabilities?

I do think leadership on a defense is important, and our second level will need some with Hitchens eventually moving on.

Andy Reid described Bolton as a very quiet guy in his press conference. Which is fine, just wondering if that's something he brings to the table.

Exceptional.

Let's not forget that when this defense was sucking the hind teat early in the season and Clark/Jones/Mathieu were ducking the press conferences, Bolton was out there front and center taking bullets for the team.

As a rookie and ostensible backup at that.

He's a heart and soul player in the DJ mold; not necessarily your rah rah Ray Lewis type, but a guy who's going to go out there with broken limbs if he can and set a tone for his unit.

I think he becomes the key emotional leader on this defense maybe as soon as next season. With Bolton in the LB corps, Snead in the secondary and Jones keeping it light on the DL, you've got some awfully good leadership on the defense going forward. Wouldn't hurt to have a red-ass in there somewhere but I really don't feel like paying a 30 year old safety $18 million/season into his decline years to get that.

I didn’t like his coverage abilities and 3 cone but last night really showed that talent. He’s a legit top 10 LB next year IMO

:bravo:

The guy is a natural leader and obviously grasps the defense well enough to make call adjustments.

He's almost ready. The defense is going to run through him next year.

He has been balls all out year. Incredible asset to our D

Bolton was the best linebacker in the SEC. It's not surprising what he is doing.

I hated the pick but love to see him beating my expectations.

Bolton and Gay should be an excellent duo for years to come. Both are complimenting Hitchens well at the moment.

We really missed Gay out there last night.

Gotta love how many of his teammates were celebrating and congratulating him. What a TEAM!

What perfect coverage. They were determined to stop the slants.

Who was the ''unblocked defender'' Kelly tried to jump over?

Ben Niemann

I never disliked the pick because he went to MU, I disliked it because a ton of linebackers who don't have supreme athleticism fail in the NFL after dominating college. I was thinking he'd kind of wash out when put up against NFL tier athletes. Also because I really wanted Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to fall to us. I can't believe that Bolton is better than JOK?


This is one of those times, like a Zach Thomas, where effort and heart and all those intangibles actually do work out.


Somebody finally got through to Spags to PLAY BOLTON ALL THE TIME PLEASE

Not always. I remember when Denver drafted Lock, and the next day at work our resident Donx fan asked me what I thought of him (this was back before we won the Super Bowl and the butthurt ****ing bitch stopped talking to me). Anyway, I told her "I don't mind that Denver drafted him. That should tell you everything you need to know."

Nick Bolton, Mike Williams, Jim Ross. Just sayin.

I wanted Lock to be drafted high because he went to Mizzou. I did NOT want Lock as a Chief, because he just wasn't going to be that good (and, yes, I know we have the best ever).

I can't think of many, if any, Mizzou Fans who thought Lock would work out. Of course, I don't think any thought Gabbert would work out either.

I remember pimping guys like Maclin, Spoon, Golden, Ealy, Morse, and even Rountree (who I'd still love as a backup).

If anything, I think being from Mizzou makes Mizzou Fan a little hesitant to want them on the Chiefs.

I love him so much

Bolton was an exceptional three down, sideline to sideline LB against SEC offenses. He passed the eye test and also graded well in run defense, pass defense, and rushing the passer in college.

The talk about him being a two down LB and not athletic enough for the NFL was always an exaggeration. He ran Mizzou's defense. He's smart and will know his assignment. He's not the type of player that forgets his assignment nad lets an RB pick up an easy first down on a dump off. He has fantastic short area quickness, which for LBs is more important then straight line speed. He's the type of player that doesn't seem that close to the ball or ball carrier and then is just suddenly there hitting like a freight train.

Do you want him covering a wide receiver on a go route? No, but do you ever want an LB doing that? He crushed receivers going over the middle in college and he has the quickness and instincts to make a play once the ball is in the air. He got penalized in college for the hard hits you come to expect from him and separating receivers from the ball when they'd come over the middle. A WR would try to make over the middle, Bolton would fly in with a form tackle and separate the receiver from the ball. Bolton would then get a penalty because I guess you aren't supposed to hit that hard or with that good of timing when somebody is trying to make a catch in college football.

I might have already posted in this thread, and I don't really give a shit. I will continue to post it anytime he's mentioned.

Dude is just a ****ing football player. Measurables are sexy, but I'll take a mother****er who just knows how to play football any day.

He's always around the ball and, possibly even more importantly, he makes tackles. I'm not exaggerating when I say he's probably the surest tackler this teams had since at least 2000.

There was a play in the open field he made on Ekeler last night. He got him around the upper shoulder pads. Ekeler did a little spin and I thought he was going to slip his way out of his grasp for more yardage, but Bolton's hands were like Velcro.

Yeah - someone doesn't quite understand the...uh....strained relationship Mizzou fans often have with their players.

NOBODY is harder on Mizzou players than Mizzou fans. So really, if you're getting a guy from MU that gets the kind of universal praise that Bolton gets, that's probably a pretty solid player.

He WAS Mizzou's defense. Other than that, spot on.

“YOU SHALL NOT PASS” - Lord Bolton

When Daniel was here I basically wanted Smith to suffer a season ending injury on every play so Daniel could get a chance to start for a prolonged period. I always thought that if he got a real shot he could make it as a starter. Then at some point I realized I was like Whitlock pining for Jeff George.

Trey, Bolton, and Creed all in one draft. I grew skeptical of Veach's abilities on draft day but boy did he knock this bitch out the park. ****ing gems on top of gems

Yeah Bolton makes me enjoy watching the Chiefs on defense again. Love him.

He played well but they also got ass gashed against the run

Yeah, why didn't Nick do MORE?

https://jamesemnace.files.wordpress....decor-font.jpg

Same energy

The best part about Bolton is his football smarts, which you really need at the Mike.

If you watch the videos with Craig Stoudt, DJ and Mike DeVito - DeVito constantly talks about how important it was that DJ would remind guys about tendencies before the play and give constant guidance.

BAH GAWD THATS LITERALLY R KELLY’S MUSIC

I love those videos.

The videos of Cassel breaking down Mahomes are pretty good, but DeVito and DJ with Stout are so much fun.

[QUOTE=St. Patty's Fire;16016273]This guy had 4 rockets up his butt all night long. Dude was in the backfield almost every play. And this is our SECOND best young linebacker LMAO Going from Hitchens/Damien Wilson to Bolton/Gay in the blink of eye is so, so nice.[


The closing speed Gay has is just insane.

I think Bolton is better than Gay right now, but Gay's ceiling is higher.

True, although Mizzou fans all told us to love Will Franklin when we drafted him...

And uhh... did that guy ever record a single goddamn reception for us? Legit wondering.

Two things

1. I said it before, he is the second best rookie LB in the league. He would get more recognition if not for Parsons.

2. To think, we got Brown and Bolton for one first round pick, which allowed us to use our original 2nd for Creed. What an amazing use of assets.

Same energy as this, too, but closer to the actual result:

https://c.tenor.com/2dTzNmB2nrgAAAAM/dunk-fat.gif

:thumb: This was a tone setter. Nick was a one man wrecking machine last night.

I reckon 3rd behind JOK, who the Browns got as an absolute steal at that point in the draft. But Bolton's floor always looked really high and probably the safest bet there.

Yeah, his ability to make plays on quick throws to the flat, screens, etc is absolutely ridiculous and is a big part of what makes our defense so insane overall when it’s healthy. With Gay and Bolton in the mix, we finally have playmakers at every single level of the defense. We used to get eaten alive on those flat type plays in the past (unsurprising when your LBs are Hitchens/Wilson/Niemann), now it’s a point of strength (when we’re healthy)

If we can find an athletic hybrid big safety/ LB in draft to go with Gay and Bolton. We are set for years.

them boys know how to hunt

Lightning Bolt is a tackling machine

After years of whiffed tackles and no wrapping up from our defense, this guy is a dream. Love Nick Bolton.

We already did.

Yup. He just rarely misses tackles. When he gets his arms around someone, they go down. Love that.

If the guy gets his hands on you, you're going to the ground.

There was a run where Etienne had the edge on him and Bolton kinda reached laterally and back as Etienne picked up steam around him - didn't matter. His hands just locked on and Etienne's momentum bulled Bolton's body around like a boat setting an anchor. Next thing you know a play that looks for all the world like a 7 yard gain went for 2.

The kid's just a damn tackling machine. I haven't seen one better in the league this year.

As good as Bolton is and has been this year....anyone else notice Reid has missed quite a few tackles? What's up with that?

They've all had a few, even Sneed. My guess is they're still working a lot of things out on the back end with so many new pieces.

Ultimately we expected a "getting out of Houston" bounce that really hasn't happened.

This has kinda always been who Justin Reid is. A solid player, but someone who's seemingly less than the sum of his parts. He's fast as hell, he's physical and he's extremely smart.

But the guy's been in the league for 5 years now and he's mostly just been...decent. And that's what he's been here.

Oh, and obligatory "Fire the tackling coach!!"

I'd like to get more out of Reid than we're getting, but I don't think we necessarily NEED more. He's been okay.

Marcus Williams was the guy I really wanted and he's been better than Reid. But Williams has a deal that's effectively a 3 yr/$45 million deal with $15 million in dead money to follow. Do I want that contract over Reid's effective 2/$20 w/ $4 million in dead money? No, no I do not.

We paid 2nd tier FA safety money and got a 2nd tier FA safety. Aight - works for me.

That's true. He was just billed as a much better tackler than HB and thus far it's been a bit meh on that end.

He's missed a few open field opportunities on third down etc.

Yeah I agree. He’s a pretty decent safety for the price. Same for MVS IMO

At least he's engaging the ball carrier. HB wouldn't even do that.

He's a more aggressive tackler than HB and that alone counts for something.

If a safety doesn't get a guy to the ground but at least hits him hard enough to slow him up, the rest of the team can rally to the ball and finish the play. It makes a bad play less bad.

HB out there making business decisions and taking himself out of plays was just completely unacceptable. Reid putting his nose in there and at least mucking up the works is definitely an upgrade there.

Oh yeah, he's definitely an upgrade there over HB all things considered. Was just saying I've noticed him miss a few open field tackles of late.

They just faced two top 10 RB's in consecutive weeks. Like I said, lots of them missed tackles, including Sneed who is usually nails.

And he can kick XPs and FGs in a pinch unlike HB.

When he hits…they go down.

Even with missed tackles he’s better than HB , He’s not running around flailing his arms in the air looking like a rerun

I bet every DB in the league could be seen to miss tackles from time to time. I'm very happy with the upgraded play from last season.

I've been a bit disappointed in his play, but I'm not sure why I was expecting more. I'm certainly glad we didn't pay more than we did.

People who think we lost that trade are dumb as ****.

Not bad for a guy who's slow and undersized.

Scouting has to be such a tough job. It seems so much of it is entirely random.

Glad you guys mentioned Reid. I'd been trying to sum up my opinion of him myself. It's hard when I am not seeing the all22s. Ultimately I'm where you guys are. He is good but has made his mistakes. Nothing amazing. Perhaps I was expecting more than I should have.

Ultimately I'll take him over HB 10 times out of 10 so mission accomplished.

I haven't seen a better tackler on the Chiefs.....ever.