Nick Bolton won't stop getting better
The 2nd-year linebacker looks (so far) like he's going to surpass expectations once again for the Chiefs.
“Some guys just know how to play football”- Me, on Nick Bolton and my wrongness.
When the Chiefs drafted Bolton in the 2nd round last season, I wasn’t terribly displeased… but I wasn’t elated either. When I looked at Bolton’s college film and examined his athletic testing numbers, he looked like a player who would be limited to two downs at the NFL and could be a liability sideline-to-sideline or in coverage. At least, that’s what I (in my definitely-not-infinite wisdom) thought at the time.
Fast-forward to late in the season last year. Bolton had stood out against the run immediately as a rookie and, after a few rough games early, had improved significantly in coverage doing what the Chiefs asked of their linebackers. I was pleasantly surprised and left without a lot of explanation other than that quote to start this piece. Some guys just know how to play football.
After a rookie season in which he played at a higher level than I thought he was capable of (again; I never claimed to be smart), Bolton is getting the nod as the starting Mike linebacker this season in Kansas City and is looking like he may well see nearly every snap for the Chiefs defense. I was very curious what he’d look like this year in a larger role given his apparent athletic limitations, enough so that I listed him as one of the ten players I was most interested in watching this preseason. The basic premise is this:
Bolton says that he’s processing the game faster this year. That ability to diagnose and react quickly is vital for a player with limited athleticism to make up the step, and it could allow him to be a markedly better player than many (myself included) anticipated him being coming out of college. A lot rests on him this year, and Saturday is our first chance to see if that “split second faster” is there.
What are the chances that a player who already overachieved as a rookie could take another step forward? Well, apparently, higher than one might’ve thought. And that was apparent from the very first snap of the Chiefs’ 2nd preseason game.
Let’s talk about Nick Bolton, a player who just won’t stop getting better, and how he’s at the center of the defense’s strong start to the 2022 preseason action.