Nick Bolton

Kansas City Chiefs

Pos LB

Updated October 8, 2026

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Model Score

86.2 MODEL

2021

79.9

2022

91.7

2023

73.6

2024

79.6

2025

86.7

2026

86.2

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Three Super Bowl rings plus the Missouri 2nd-round origin plus career STTM range mostly tier 3-5 across five years puts Bolton in the structural mid-prime LB class with championship-pedigree veteran value. The 2024-2025 regression from tier 3 (#21) to tier 6 (#43) flags either injury or scheme shift. The 2026 question is whether Bolton returns to tier 3 territory or whether the structural tier 5-6 finish becomes the stable late-prime baseline.

Bolton came out of Missouri as the Kansas City Chiefs' 2nd-round pick (58th overall) in 2021 and has won three Super Bowls (LVII, LVIII) anchoring the Chiefs' linebacker corps. His STTM career runs tier 3 (#21) rookie, tier 4 (#25) in 2022, tier 3 (#21) in 2023, tier 5 (#40) in 2024, and tier 6 (#43) in 2025.

Strengths

Two Super Bowl rings (LVII, LVIII) plus the Missouri 2nd-round origin plus the consistent tier 3-5 STTM range establishes structural mid-prime ceiling.
Five years of Chiefs system experience plus the structural anchor role gives him real championship-pedigree veteran value.

Concerns

Two-year regression from tier 3 (#21) in 2023 to tier 6 (#43) in 2025 flags either injury, scheme shift, or one-year context spike.
Kansas City's broader defensive identity transition compresses the structural support around Bolton's late-prime chapter.

What to watch: Whether Bolton returns to tier 3 (top 25) in 2026 with the Chiefs, the threshold for confirming the structural ceiling holds.