KPASS shows how being athletic doesnt always translate to the field on that play.

How do you know he’s not lined up properly?

KPass is athletic for a DT. He’s not athletic for a DE.

Had to have been a passing play.

Wharton, Neimann and Sorenson are all undersized and it showed

Not arguing that but much like Hitchens his first year here, these LB's are all going to struggle if the line doesn't play better than on that play.

Even Willie Gay isn't stepping into that hole where Niemann did and coming away with a plus play. That's a 300-pound guard coming through that hole.

I should have said "being a physical freak" instead of athletic.

Jarran Reed

That man will be a big boost for us. Well that and Saunders not having his arm ****ed in the opener

So then your whole thing about the LB's is moot.

No I think it’s still a strong point as proven with back-to-back LB selections in the 2nd rd. They had speed and they had power, but not both. Neimann is weak and Wilson/Ragland/Hitchens were strong but slow.

Having real LB’s who are athletic and strong should help considerably.

Of course.

But without better play in front of them, they're going to get mauled by OL.

It's complementary football.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on rookie LB Nick Bolton: &quot;We&#39;re going to try to find ways to get him on the field. It may take a little while.&#39;&#39;</p>&mdash; Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) <a href="https://twitter.com/adamteicher/status/1400517180660150272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not at all surprising

Exactly.

He’s not an all pro yet?........ Bust!

We are ****ed!!!!

We all knew it would take some time to get Bolton on the field full time but it still sucks that we’ll have to watch Neimann get his ass kicked over and over again while we wait

They'll likely win every one of those games. Yeah, it's really going to suck.

If Bolton is as good as advertised, there's no way he doesn't take Niemann's job sooner, rather than later.

Shocking that he hasn't mastered the various nuances of the playbook/scheme yet.

It's entirely possible that he's even better than advertised and still doesn't take Niemann's job right away.

It's like these coaches have no idea what they're doing or something. They're just looking for ways to frustrate fans.

BUT I WANT TO WIN BY MORE DAMNIT!!!

It's OTA's so I'm not sure getting worked up too much is the way to go.

He needs to play though. He was billed as pretty pro ready unlike Gay last year. So I figure he'll play.

I have faith in the coaches, I'm just hopeful that Bolton will get ahead of the curve and earn a spot in the lineup sooner than we think. I enjoy watching quality LB play, and Niemann doesn't provide that.

I enjoy seeing the team win, and Niemann hasn't affected that at all. :shrug:

Meh, we almost always win. I want to see the Chiefs win AND crush their enemies, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentation of their women!

Yeah, I've gotten to the point where I don't care about any of that. Just win baby.

I am looking forward to seeing Nick come downhill on some backs.

If Nick bolton starts we go 20-0, if he doesnt immediately take Niemans job, we only win the super bowl.

Seems legit.

Agreed.

Even if we don't win, I just try and savor every moment of Mahomes. Even if the Chiefs can't win the team game, I enjoy watching the best to ever do it.

Well he certainly isn't going to win the starting job until the pads come on at the earliest

Exit the ship??

I don’t think they are going to have him wait as long we think.

Willie Gay started playing significant snaps in games at the end of October and he didn’t have much experience starting in college and also had to deal with a pandemic forcing him to miss in person practice his first OTA’s.

Nick Bolton was drafted in per bc he was very experienced and smart. He’s not calling the defense so there’s not a ton of responsibility there and he is here like a normal offseason.

JMO but I think we see him start playing at least 50% of the snaps by early to mid October

It’s a given Bolton will take a while to get more snaps, I’m just hopeful that by the end of the season we don’t have to see another snap played by Niemann barring injury.

I’m more interested early on in seeing if Gay can hit the ground running early on in the season. I don’t think he really showed the growth through last year I had hoped for, he still seemed lost at times late in the year, and the injury prior to the playoffs certainly didn’t help. This off-season is going to be huge for his future here.

I’ll continue to harp on the sentiment that with the cap constraints we’ll usually be under year to year our high draft picks need to heavily contribute and/or become starters sooner rather than later. Thornhill was clearly on that path prior to his injury. Hardman contributed heavily early on but has settled more into a gadget/role player type since then. I’m hopeful Gay and eventually Bolton can have relatively quick progression, waiting for year 3 or 4 for high draft picks to hit their stride isn’t sustainable in my opinion.

Clyde, Danna, and Sneed all had an immediate impact last year. Nnadi did as well his rookie year. Hell, Fenton did to an extent too.

Humphrey is already lining up as the starting C.

Not every draft pick is going to contribute immediately. The only issue here is that you’re focusing on the ones that don’t, and ignoring the ones that do.

Our last 2 draft have been fantastic, and if this one is anything like last years or how it looks on paper, it will absolutely be “sustainable”.

IIRC Spags was making similar comments about Sneed going into last season. He turned out OK.

*****The Nick Bolton Thread*****
 

Sounds like a motivational quote to get Bolton in the right frame of mind.

Bolton needs to be one of the ones who do. He has 2 years as the leader of a defense in the SEC. He’s also very smart per the scouting reports/Chiefs assessment.

It was understandable that Willie Gay took time. He didn’t start much in college, wasnt the smartest player, wasn’t the leader of the defense and got screwed by the pandemic forcing him to miss valuable practice time.

I don’t think it will be long before Bolton gets significant snaps

Absolutely, two different players with very different experience levels coming into the bigs

Saw this interesting nugget on Willie Gay today:

So this guy had to deal with no OTA’s, not starting many games or leading his defense in college and only looking at his playbook starting in camp....and he played about 25% of the snaps in week 4 and then about 50% in week 7.

I don’t buy this “they’re gonna bring Bolton along slowly” stuff. Compared to Willie he’s in a way better situation this year. I think he gets 50+% of the snaps by early October at the latest

I think Bolton gets 50% of the week 1 snaps. Niemann is so awful that you could literally put a blind reerun out there and not be that much worse at LB.

What about a blind AND deaf one?

Hell, you could put a dead reerun out there and not notice much difference.

Jesus Christmas.

Gay and Bolton are going to be demons in the middle of the field of our defense.

Our front 7 is going to be fun to watch in the near future.

Much improved from blind demons with downs from what i have heard.

He's not much of a linebacker, but he sure plays a mean pinball.

What’s the CP consensus of him after 2 games? Seems to always be around the ball

He's still a rookie and will still make rookie mistakes from time to time, but so far his speed and instincts are evident. I'm excited to see what he and Willie Gay are looking like for us at the beginning of December.

People who know what they're looking at: Damn Bolton is solid out there already

CP drafturbators: But but but muh 3 cone!!

I think he’s gonna be good. We will walk on Hitch next year and I don’t see any drop off. Bolton also has a higher upside than Hitch IMO.

Looks like we could be moving on from all 3 of the big 2019 defensive overhaul signings (Clark and HB).

It's possible.

I think they find a way to get HB done though.

Yeah, I'd be shocked if Hitch and Clark are back. Honey Badger I'm leaning towards them re-signing, although I think we need to be very careful of a 29/30 year old safety.

Honey Badger is a big part of our defense and the attitude change that came with the overhaul. He's still playing at a high level. If Hitchens and Clark are both gone, I see no reason to let Mathieu walk. Safeties like him aren't easily replaced.

I think it’s clear that HB is extremely valuable… but.

Veach has been softening the ground for his release by saying money is tight.

The Chiefs are likely extending Hill, Brown, and probably a premier DE next offseason after we let Clark go.

I don’t know how you do that while also signing a 30 year old safety to $17m/year money.

Maybe the salary cap will surprise me, but I doubt it.

Honestly I hope you are wrong and they retain HB. At the same time he has a say in it as well. He has to understand the money/length of contract he probably wants makes it hard for KC to retain him. I imagine if he is reasonable with his demands Veach finds a way to keep him. If not he walks and goes to the highest bidder.

Pretty much this. I think Veach has a number that works and HB wants more. Veach wants to keep him but isn’t going to chase a number that will make it impossible to keep Orlando or Tyreek. Not for a guy who will be 34 by the end of the deal.

That said, there’s no reason we can’t just deal with this issue next offseason. Maybe his price goes up but maybe it doesn’t. Time will tell…..

Sadly, Badger seems to be a merc. He originally said he wanted to stay in Houston but then came here for more money. Since winning a ring, and being voted team MVP, dude seems all about recognition and the payday.

Best of luck HB. Thanks for (potentially) three awesome years, but its time to go.

I'd hate to see him go but business is business, we could trade him off, right?

We could, but I don’t think it’s a smart move.

He’s worth more to us in the coming year than virtually anything we’d get in return.

Plus, trading off your locker room leader in these circumstances is a pretty bad idea.

Jones and Mahomes numbers will go up and Tyreek Hill will be the highest paid WR. You're wrong about finding safeties and it would be dumb to give a safety on the wrong side of 30 with 2 blown knees top market value.

Kid looked pretty good today. Had an excellent TFL and had 7 tackles. I think he’s gonna be a solid starter.

But he’s still too slow for my liking. Especially in pass defense. Gotta get better there

ALL IN FOR HOUSE BOLTON. WARDEN OF THE DREADFORT.

Let's look back on some of these ****ing gems right here.

He was good for his first game. In the near future when Bolton and Gay are taking the LB reps that'll improve the D.

He looked good out there for a rookie.

He had a good game, and I think he'll look even better when Gay comes back and takes over a few of his coverage assignments.

And if all he ever becomes for us is a solid-not-spectacular LB who improves our run defense, I'll certainly take it. We haven't had that guy since Ragland improved in the latter half of 2019.

balled out...

when Gay is back...and tyrann and Clark we will look alot different

Yup, we're going to have capable LBers again with him and Gay. It's been awhile.

Was really good especially when he was the only player even trying in the first half. Get Gay back and we'll be alright

Pleasantly surprised, although I'm not sure if he just shined so brightly in contrast to the rest of the defense looking like an AIDS fire in that abysmal first half.

Kid will be a real good player - excited for Willie Gay to get back

It's impressive how well he did considering the DL sucked a bag of dicks for many downs.

The kid belongs

I was impressed with him. Solid game with no noticeable mistakes that I saw. That's almost more than you expect from a 1st game rookie.

That's the best OL we'll see all year.

Yeah, until Jedrick went down.

I enjoyed watching him. Made some big plays.

Bolton looked good in his first game, but I was disappointed on his effort on the Hunt 2-point conversion.

Bolton saw the hole, and instead of running and filling the hole, he ran up to it and waited for Hunt. He needs to attack the line when he makes that read.

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