8. Nick Bolton
Resolution: Improve in coverage.
Nick Bolton is a great tackler. In fact, he’s racking up tackles left and right this season. So much so that he’s right up with the league leaders in tackles. However, tackles aren’t always a great indicator of how good a player is playing overall. Now, for several years after Derrick Johnson retired the Chiefs had a major issue just finding someone who would reliably wrap up at linebacker. That problem has been solved and while there are still some issues with Bolton getting sucked out of position, I trust that the second-year player will continue to improve in that area as he gets more and more experience.
The area where Bolton needs to make it a goal to improve if he wants to be considered one of the NFL’s top inside linebackers is in coverage. Like I just got done saying in Justin Reid’s section, the middle of the field is often far too easy for opposing quarterbacks to pick apart and Bolton is a major part of that. I get that his primary responsibility is to stop the run, but he needs to at least get to the point where he’s not a liability in coverage. He shows flashes of good coverage instincts, but then a play happens like the one on Sunday where he looked completely out of his element on a play where Chase Edmonds caught a pass that ended up going for 27 yards.
Overall, I’m thrilled with Nick Bolton’s first two seasons in Kansas City, but improving his coverage skills would take his game to another level and the entire defense would gain a lot from it in the process.
Next up, let’s go to a couple of pass catchers.