Nick Bolton should be a draft priority for the Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs need reinforcements at linebacker and Nick Bolton could meet that need.

The 2021 NFL Draft is just a few weeks away and the Kansas City Chiefs will look to inject some young talent in to their team. It seems that nearly every position on the roster could use some help and linebacker is no exception.

Veteran linebacker Anthony Hitchens remains on the roster for 2021, as does second-year man Willie Gay Jr., while Damien Wilson headed for Jacksonville in free agency. So, beyond Hitchens and Gay, there are no real proven players at the position.

Chiefs fans have good reason to be excited about the development of Gay, but he is coming off an an injury and may not see action right away. While Gay has a lot of potential, there’s no real legitimate talent being developed beyond him.

While the Chiefs have some significant needs at the offensive tackle position and at edge rusher, that’s why this position cannot be overlooked in this upcoming draft. For that reason, it wouldn’t be totally surprising to see the team take a linebacker in the first round or make an aggressive trade later to move up and get one.

One player that they’ll hopefully look to add is Missouri Tiger, Nick Bolton. As reported by Herbie Teope, Bolton stated that he has spoken with the Chiefs in the predraft process. If he were to be selected by Kansas City, Bolton would find a new home not far up the road from where he played college ball. This has the potential for his transition to the pros to be a little easier.

The KC Chiefs’ defense would receive a solid upgrade at linebacker if they’re able to select Nick Bolton.

At roughly six feet tall and weighing between 230 and 240 pounds, he already has the physique to play at the next level. With the league seemingly transitioning to some degree to more versatile linebackers, Bolton looks to fit that mold.

While he’s no stranger to laying a good hit on running backs, he also has the athleticism to fit into the more modern NFL. He has received a comparison to the Chargers’ Denzel Perryman and has similarities with Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David, both of whom are both solid and aggressive linebackers.

Bolton’s ability to make plays all over the field led to him being selected first-team All-SEC as a true freshman in 2019. He was again named first-team All-SEC in 2020 along with getting tagged as a second-team AP All-American.

Those are promising signs and should give him plenty of confidence as he heads into his first year in the NFL. This type of confidence and talent would fit really great into a Steve Spagnuolo-led defense and he could be used very well.

So, the big question is where Bolton lands in the draft. Thankfully, he seems like the kind of prospect that could fall to later in the first round. It’s not likely that he’s make it late into the second round, but this is where Brett Veach’s aggressiveness could come into play.

If Veach were to land a talented young left tackle early on, his sights should then be set on making Nick Bolton a draft priority.