Nick Bolton Sets Kansas City Chiefs Record With 180 Tackles In 2022

You could call Nick Bolton humble.

While assessing his performance after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-13 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, the linebacker said, “I didn’t really tackle that good today.”

The stats from Saturday suggest otherwise.

In addition to being an integral part of a Chiefs defense that limited the NFL’s leading rusher, Josh Jacobs, to 45 yards and 2.6 yards per carry, Bolton had 16 tackles, including eight solo, giving him 180 tackles on the year. That total set a single-season franchise record.

“I love it when our guys get any of (those records),” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “It just shows how committed they are.”

According to the Chiefs’ official statistics, Bolton surpassed Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson’s franchise record of 179 tackles set in 2011.

Bolton also owns the most 10-plus tackles games in a season with 10 this year, surpassing Donnie Edwards’ seven during the 2000 season.

And in the entire NFL, only Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, who had 184, had more tackles than Bolton in 2022.

“He’s a heck of a football player,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “He’s having definitely an All-Pro season.”

The stats back up Bolton’s great year.

It, however, should be noted that Pro Football Reference, the bible of football statistics, states that “tackles remain an unofficial stat.”

While the website also has Bolton at 180 and Oluokun at 184 total tackles in 2022, it listed Johnson as having 131 (not 179) in 2011.

Secondly, Bolton recorded his 180 tackles in 17 games due to the expanded schedule while Johnson accumulated his in 16 games in 2011.

Regardless, Bolton is an anchor on the Chiefs’ young defense, having replaced Anthony Hitchens, who was released at the end of the 2021 season.

Bolton is also expanding his game beyond making tackles as an in-the-box linebacker, having hauled in the first two interceptions of his career this year.

More than his size and speed, it might be Bolton’s instincts that set him apart.

“You pair that with how he studies, how he sees the field, kind of being able to see what’s coming before it comes,” center Creed Humphrey said, “he’s awesome to watch.”

Humphrey and Bolton are a testament to general manager Brett Veach’s ability to find talent. He drafted both quality starters in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

The second-year Bolton also pairs with another player Veach drafted in the second round — third-year linebacker Willie Gay — to give the Chiefs a young, formidable duo who represent great value.

The 22-year-old Bolton is in the second year of his $5.8 million contract, and the 24-year-old Gay is in the third year of his four-year, $5.3 million contract.

While the more athletic and energetic Gay is often credited with giving the team “juice,” Bolton is the defense’s quarterback.

He and Spagnuolo seem to have a special bond. After the Chiefs’ impressive 44-23 win against the San Francisco 49ers in Week Seven, the defensive coordinator had his arm over Bolton while providing counsel as they walked into the tunnel toward the visitors’ locker room at Levi’s Stadium.

Prior to Week 18, Spagnuolo was asked about Bolton’s potential tackling record.

“That’d be nice to get that,” he said. “But like I told the guys the other day, ‘We’re chasing rings and not records.’”

With Bolton pacing the defense of the AFC’s No. 1 seed, Kansas City is poised for both.