Kansas City Chiefs stay home with first pick in NFL Draft, selecting Mizzou linebacker
After sitting out the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft the previous night, the Chiefs engaged in the action Friday with their first pick of selection process.
And the pick has local ties.
The Chiefs selected Missouri linebacker Nick Bolton as the 58th overall player selected. Not long after, they picked Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey with the 63rd overall spot.
The 6-foot, 232-pound Bolton fills a need and should contribute immediately. The Chiefs did their homework on Bolton during the pre-draft process, spending time getting to know him, and now the two-time All-SEC selection is set to bring plenty of proven college production to KC.
“What you’re going to get with him is just an all-out aggressive, smart football player,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “Not the biggest guy, but very, very tough. Great tackler, great ball skills in the pass game part of it and tremendous leadership. We look forward to bringing him onboard.”
Bolton, who clocked a 4.6 time in the 40-yard dash at his pro-day workout, was a tackling machine at Missouri, totaling 220 tackles (139 solo), four sacks, two interceptions and 12 passes defensed in three seasons.
Bolton should fill in for Damien Wilson, who signed a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the offseason. The Chiefs’ starting linebacker corps likely projects as Anthony Hitchens, Willie Gay Jr. and Bolton in the team’s 4-3 defensive base package, with Ben Niemann and Dorian O’Daniel as primary backups.
While there’s still organized team activities (OTAs), a mandatory minicamp and training camp to go before the regular season, the Chiefs believe Bolton can be a day-one contributor.
“He can play the MIKE linebacker position, but he can also play the other positions there, so, yes, he can,” Reid said. “We had a bit of an advantage because we have (former Missouri assistant coach and current Chiefs assistant special-teams coach) Andy Hill on staff. Andy coached him, so he knows him personally, which helps. But we felt that he could help in any of the three positions.”
Bolton feels his experience at Missouri will set him up well if he’s called upon to contribute immediately.
“I’m just ready to go out there and have a chance to compete,” he said.
This marks the second straight year that the Chiefs went with a SEC linebacker in the second round. In 2020, the Chiefs selected Gay out of Mississippi State with the 63rd overall pick of the draft.
With a pair of young linebackers taken in back-to-back drafts, the Chiefs’ future sets up well at the position.
Bolton is the first player from Missouri drafted by the Chiefs since center Mitch Morse in 2015. Bolton is the 11th player from Mizzou drafted by the Chiefs overall, including three from the team’s AFL days.
It’s the first time since the AFL-NFL merger that the Chiefs made a Missouri player their first draft selection.
“Being close to Mizzou and playing for the Chiefs is a dream come true,” Bolton said.
The Star’s Blair Kerkhoff contributed to this report.
CHIEFS’ DRAFT PICKS
- Round 2, 58th overall: LB Nick Bolton, Missouri
- Round 2, 63rd overall: C Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma
- Round 4, 144th overall: DE Joshua Kaindoh, Florida State
- Round 5, 162nd overall, via trade with Jets: TE Noah Gray, Duke
- Round 5, 181st overall: WR Cornell Powell, Clemson
Round 6, 226th overall, via trade with Jets: OL Trey Smith, Tennessee
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 8:24 PM with the headline "Kansas City Chiefs stay home with first pick in NFL Draft, selecting Mizzou linebacker."
