K.C. Chiefs could select linebacker Nick Bolton in 2021 NFL Draft

As the 2021 NFL Draft gets closer and more mock drafts start to come out, a select few players begin to become familiar to fans as they’re mocked to the K.C. Chiefs over and over by fans and analysts alike. One of those players for the Chiefs is Missouri linebacker Nick Bolton. The connection is no surprise considering there are a lot of Mizzou fans who are also Chiefs fans that fall in love with the idea of adding a player they rooted for at the college level. However, the Nick Bolton idea actually makes a lot of sense for both the player and the team, so there’s some weight to this one.

Let’s just start with the fact that Bolton is a really good player. In three seasons at Missouri, Bolton recorded 220 total tackles, 17.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 INT, and 12 PD. In addition to those numbers, Bolton essentially had two straight 100-tackles seasons, having 103 in 2019 and 95 in 2020 even with a shortened schedule due to COVID.

Bolton does a little bit of everything at linebacker. Watching Bolton’s film, he stands out in a few certain areas. First, he loves to tackle and he rarely misses on his pursuit of the ball carrier. He’s also a big hitter. You’ll find yourself screaming profanities a lot watching some of his hits.

Second, he has great instincts and can see the play before it happens in most cases. For example, when Missouri defeated the defending National Champion LSU Tigers this past season, Bolton batted down a pass at the one-yard line that was intended for wide receiver prospect Terrace Marshall—a play that would have gone for a touchdown if not for Bolton. That’s a game Missouri likely would have lost.

Nick Bolton makes some sense for the Chiefs in the first round.

Bolton was the Patrick Mahomes of the Missouri defense in 2020. They weren’t very good without him, and when he was banged up at the end of the year, the Missouri defense gave up nearly 150 points combined in the last three games.

Bolton’s skill set makes him an appealing pick at No. 31 because he can do most things the Chiefs would be asking him to do. We all know that the Chiefs run defense continued to struggle in 2020, and a lot of that has to do with their lack of athleticism at linebacker. Bolton could certainly help that as he was ranked 10th among all linebackers in 2019 in run defense with an 89.8 grade according to PFF.

Kansas City’s linebackers also lack in coverage. Bolton helps there, too. He has also been one of the better coverage linebackers in college football the past couple seasons. In 2019, Bolton ranked 1st among all linebackers in coverage with a 90.4 coverage grade according to PFF. Bolton also led all linebackers in forced incompletions since 2019 with 11.

Bolton doesn’t have many weaknesses, but if you were looking for reasons to not draft him, it would start with the consideration that he’s a little undersized at 6’0″, 230 lbs and he may not be the fastest among draft-eligible linebackers. However, current Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay is only 6’1″, 240 lbs., so that may not mean much on the field. Plus Bolton is a guy who plays faster than he’ll most likely run at the combine.

Bolton could step in and start from day one alongside Willie Gay which would make for one of the best young linebacker duos in the league and would be an instant upgrade from Anthony Hitchens. What does that mean for Hitchens? Well, cutting Hitchens would save the Chiefs around $6 million dollars. While Hitchens really came into his own in 2020, when you have the chance to not only upgrade but save money as well, then it’s really hard to not dream about drafting Bolton.

As far as the chances that the Chiefs may take Bolton in the first round, general manager Brett Veach has already talked about wanting to add linebacker this offseason and while many may be surprised by taking one at No. 31 overall, we’ve seen that Veach will go ahead and get a guy if he really likes them regardless of what fans think. Andy Reid also used to coach at Missouri and typically does his due diligence with Tigers prospects (e.g. Yasir Durant), so the team will probably talk to Bolton pre-draft at the very least. At the end of the day, Bolton to the Chiefs makes a fair amount of sense.