Originally Posted by :
Bolton played in all 13 games as a true freshman (22 tackles, one sack) after earning Dallas Morning News first-team all-state honors at Lone Star High School (130 tackles, 16 for loss, five interceptions). He went from promising youngster to SEC star in 2019, earning first-team all-conference honors after leading the league with 8.9 tackles per game (107 total, 7.5 for loss), intercepting two passes and breaking up eight others in 12 starts. He was named second-team Associated Press All-American, first-team All-SEC and a Butkus Award finalist in 2020, leading his defense with 95 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss (including two sacks), while breaking up five passes in 10 starts. Bolton's father, Carlos, played football at Louisiana Tech. -- by Chad Reuter
Overview
When you think about strong, forceful inside linebackers, Bolton is the type of player you might be envisioning. He's going to fall below typical NFL starter standards from a size standpoint, but his rugged frame and forceful demeanor help make up for it. Play recognition and pursuit instincts help carry him to the football and he's a message-sending striker when he gets the runner squared up. He has functional short-area burst between the tackles but will struggle to run down the outside run if he's not close enough to the action. He will need to lean heavier on his instincts to help speed him up because of size and speed limitations. Bolton plays with good field recognition when dropping into zone and has a history of making plays on the football in coverage. He's a three-down linebacker who can make an immediate contribution on special teams and has the potential to become a future starter. Strengths
Very tough with a physical edge.
Plays with demeanor teams look for in the middle.
Field-savvy with instincts to diagnose misdirection.
Identifies and communicates.
Heavy hands with good pop to take on blocks.
Pursues ball-carrier with patience and leverage.
Fluid alterations to his pursuit angles.
Excellent feel for attack timing downhill.
Meets runners with violent collisions in the hole.
Strikes like he's trying to send a message.
Great awareness and ballhawking as spot dropper.
Has enough man-cover talent to play on all three downs.
Thrived on kick- and punt-cover teams early in his career.
Weaknesses
Average lateral quickness traps him behind climbing blocks.
Inconsistent to strike and separate from blockers.
Needs to improve angles to elude box traffic.
Might need to take a few more chances as a pro.
Top-end speed appears below average.
Loses ground when pursuit flows wide.
Below-average lateral agility as open-field tackler.
Will have to play quicker to deal with NFL slashers.
Originally Posted by Kiimo:
I'm still a little bent out of shape that he wasn't starting from Day 1
he basically did
he had about 80% of the defensive snaps in the games during the 1st half of his rookie season and "started" 12 of the 17 games. I think he mightve been a little banged up toward the middle/end of the 1st season which is why his snap count actually got less toward the end of that rookie season. (as opposed to the opposite)
The thing thats crazy about his second season (last year) is that he stayed on the field every damn snap almost. close to what eric berry did, but not quite. To only miss about 1 snap in the last 10 games is pretty nutty. Plus getting like 11 tackles a game...
The guy is my favorite chief not named mahomes [Reply]
We can absolutely pay Bolton and we probably should. When you're an off-ball LB like Bolton who just makes the play and the tackle 99% of the time no matter what, it's like having an elite safety back there. It cleans up all of your problems.
Probably won't be able to keep Jones. But if we have to choose one or the other, I'd rather roll with in-his-prime Bolton with cheaper (but hopefully mostly reliable) interior DTs in front of him. [Reply]
Bolton's not Ragland out there, folks. He's not just a replaceable run-stuffer. That's your team leader. That's the guy telling Leo where to go as the play is happening.
That's a guy who's so sound against the run that it will change gameplans. Teams are going to be hesitant to do that ground and pound shit against us because they just can't. He's as instrumental to our run defense as Jones is to the pass rush.
He and Humphrey are my 'must extend' guys and I'll just sadly wave at Sneed because I know that we can't pay him. And if letting Sneed go lets us keep Danna as the third guy out of those draft classes, I can live with that because I think Danna will continue to ascend.
I've said this since the Sutton days - offense is about stars that can make something from nothing. Defense is about simply not having a weakness that teams can exploit. You let Bolton walk and you're creating a weakness both in terms of your run defense and in terms of your communication.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
"Let's go O, we got y'all boys!"
****ing love that leadership.
Bolton's not Ragland out there, folks. He's not just a replaceable run-stuffer. That's your team leader. That's the guy telling Leo where to go as the play is happening.
That's a guy who's so sound against the run that it will change gameplans. Teams are going to be hesitant to do that ground and pound shit against us because they just can't. He's as instrumental to our run defense as Jones is to the pass rush.
He and Humphrey are my 'must extend' guys and I'll just sadly wave at Sneed because I know that we can't pay him. And if letting Sneed go lets us keep Danna as the third guy out of those draft classes, I can live with that because I think Danna will continue to ascend.
I've said this since the Sutton days - offense is about stars that can make something from nothing. Defense is about simply not having a weakness that teams can exploit. You let Bolton walk and you're creating a weakness both in terms of your run defense and in terms of your communication.
He's hugely important.
Weren't you against paying for "leadership" in the Frank Clark debate? [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Weren't you against paying for "leadership" in the Frank Clark debate?
Frank Clark wasn't a leader - he was just a loudmouth.
Guys don't follow bums and Clark was a bum. Guys don't follow dudes who take entire months off and Clark took entire months off.
Clark just wouldn't shut up. We all knew that guy in High School and none of us gave a shit what he had to say. We also knew the guy that played with his hair on fire, knew his shit every down and went hard every snap. We listened to that guy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
I dunno, for all his faults, guys seemed to listen to Frank.
I think your MU bias is showing here.
MU Fans don't have a bias for their former players. By and large we shit on them WORSE than we do other guys.
But yeah, I loved Bolton going back to my STH for Mizzou. It's less about him being a former Mizzou player and more about him being a guy I watched every Saturday and who I saw improve week over week, year over year.
He's just a damn good ballplayer and his teammates respond to him. [Reply]