Five Chiefs who could make Kansas City unstoppable in 2022

Willie Gay Jr.

Some of you might have been expecting Nick Bolton to be the linebacker on this list. While I certainly think Bolton will be a huge part of the defense and continue to build on his outstanding rookie season, I think it’s his teammate Willie Gay Jr. that is about to make the biggest leap in production. While Bolton is the reliable force in the center of the defense that will make the calls and rack up tackles, Gay is the one with the special physical tools to be a star.

Willie Gay is a 6-foot-1 and 243-pound linebacker that ran a 4.46 forty, had 21 bench press reps, a 39.5-inch vertical, and a 136-inch broad jump at the NFL combine. In other words, he’s a physical freak. In his first two seasons in KC, Gay flashed that big play ability but was unable to earn the trust of Steve Spagnuolo to stay on the field. In fact, he was out-snapped on defense by Ben Niemann 466 snaps to 267 in 2020 and 557 to 466 in 2021. For a point of comparison, Anthony Hitchens averaged over 700 defensive snaps per season during his four years in KC and Nick Bolton had over 600 as a rookie last year. So Willie Gay simply hasn’t been given an opportunity to play much so far in KC.

This year it appears that is going to change. Nick Bolton and Willie Gay appear poised to play the majority of KC’s snaps at linebacker. While guys like Leo Chenal and Elijah Lee will get snaps as a third linebacker, neither of them appears to be any threat to cutting into Gay’s playing time. While Gay could still have some hiccups if he misses a read or gets too aggressive and over-pursues, I think it will be made up for by all the plays his special size/speed combo allows him to make.

Gay is fast enough to run with almost any offensive playmaker a team can send his way and physical enough to tackle them as well. We’ve seen him break up passes and blow up runs already in his limited action and now that he’ll be on the field on a full-time basis we could see a lot more of that. It’s been a long time since the Chiefs had a linebacker group that was the strength of the defense, but that’s exactly what could happen this year. If Bolton continues to build off his outstanding rookie year and Gay is unleashed and lives up to his potential, the Chiefs could have one of the best linebacker duos in all the NFL. That would be an absolute nightmare for opposing teams that are trying to keep pace with a Patrick Mahomes-led offense.

So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you agree with my list of players that could make the Chiefs unstoppable this season if they all have great years? Is there anyone that you think deserved to be on this list more? How confident are you that these players will do well this season? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.