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 BryanBusby:
I think Bolton is going to play more as a rookie than you're thinking.
Possibly but the people thinking he's going to "erase" Niemann are kidding themselves.
With the COVID stuff still somewhat in effect, he's going to get slow-rolled like Gay was. The fact that he has like 3 times the experience will help get him on the field earlier though so he should end up better off than Gay was last year. He still probably ends up 4th in snap counts though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chris Meck:
Gay barely played in college. Bolton's an entirely different situation, and an entirely different player.
I absolutely expect someone with his intellect, experience, and instincts to play more than Gay did.
I think the point I'm trying to make is that he's not going to come in and jump Niemann on the depth chart, definitely not right away, and possibly not at all this season.
People need to temper expectations a bit. That way you're setting yourself to be pleasantly surprised when he exceeds them. Every week last year it was "get Gay on the field" and every week people weren't looking at the big picture.
The reasons for taking Bolton are much more far-reaching than reducing Niemann's snaps and much more important, quite frankly. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
With the COVID stuff still somewhat in effect, he's going to get slow-rolled like Gay was. The fact that he has like 3 times the experience will help get him on the field earlier though so he should end up better off than Gay was last year. He still probably ends up 4th in snap counts though.
I don't agree.
Gay had the misfortune of being raw as hell during a canceled offseason.
Bolton is a lot more pro ready and this offseason won't be 'as' restrictive.
I think he will see a lot of snaps early on as the Damien Wilson replacement, since they never did replace him. [Reply]
Gay had the misfortune of being raw as hell during a canceled offseason.
Bolton is a lot more pro ready and this offseason won't be 'as' restrictive.
I think he will see a lot of snaps early on as the Damien Wilson replacement, since they never did replace him.
Gay is Wilson's replacement. He spent the entire season learning Wilson's base and nickel assignments.
And actually we do kind of agree, we're just kind of talking past each other.
I think Bolton gets more snaps than Gay did last year, that's what I was getting at in my previous posts. I'm just saying I don't think he's getting the bulk of the snap anywhere and we're still going to see a lot of Niemann until later on. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Gay is Wilson's replacement. He spent the entire season learning Wilson's base and nickel assignments.
And actually we do kind of agree, we're just kind of talking past each other.
I think Bolton gets more snaps than Gay did last year, that's what I was getting at in my previous posts. I'm just saying I don't think he's getting the bulk of the snap anywhere and we're still going to see a lot of Niemann until later on.
I thought the same about Gay, but I'm not so sure anymore.
I wouldn't be opposed to another LB today to give less snaps to Niemann. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Possibly but the people thinking he's going to "erase" Niemann are kidding themselves.
With the COVID stuff still somewhat in effect, he's going to get slow-rolled like Gay was. The fact that he has like 3 times the experience will help get him on the field earlier though so he should end up better off than Gay was last year. He still probably ends up 4th in snap counts though.
I think their goal was to put Neimann where he belongs...on 3rd downs. Neimann is a disaster on early downs. He is way to small and can’t shed blocks [Reply]
Originally Posted by BryanBusby:
I thought the same about Gay, but I'm not so sure anymore.
I wouldn't be opposed to another LB today to give less snaps to Niemann.
I think people are worried way too much about Niemann. He’s going to fade out organically as Gay and Bolton get more playing time. Everybody just needs to be patient. It’s not like Niemann cost us a shot at another Lombardi or anything [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
I think people are worried way too much about Niemann. He’s going to fade out organically as Gay and Bolton get more playing time. Everybody just needs to be patient. It’s not like Niemann cost us a shot at another Lombardi or anything
