Player
Nick Bolton
LB · Chiefs
Nick Bolton: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
568 career tackles in 74 games — 7.7 per game. He's been a tackle machine from day one.
TrendNick Bolton regular-season defensive line by year
| Year | G | Solo | Asst | Total | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | 57 | 42 | 99 | 0 | 3 |
| 2022 | 17 | 99 | 72 | 171 | 2 | 3 |
| 2023 | 8 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 0 | 3 |
| 2024 | 16 | 66 | 33 | 99 | 2 | 6 |
| 2025 | 17 | 69 | 81 | 150 | 1 | 6 |
Total tackles per season
| Season | Total tackles |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 |
| 2022 | 171 |
| 2023 | 49 |
| 2024 | 99 |
| 2025 | 150 |
The 2023 dip (49 tackles in 8 games) wasn't form — it was injury (a dislocated wrist suite that cost him 9 games). Healthy, he averages 130+ tackles a year, and 2022's 171-tackle season was top-5 in the entire NFL. 2025 is right back to that ceiling: 150 combined, with the most assists (81) of his career.
Top tackler in his entire 2021 draft class — by 44 tackles.
Rare2021 draft class LB — career tackles, 5-year totals
| Player | Tackles | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Bolton | 568 | 74 |
| Ernest Jones | 524 | 74 |
| Pete Werner | 390 | 70 |
| Jamien Sherwood | 362 | 62 |
| Divine Deablo | 334 | 59 |
| Micah Parsons | 273 | 76 |
He was the 8th LB drafted in 2021 (Round 2, Pick 58) and has more career tackles than the seven LBs taken ahead of him *combined* would in most cases. He outpaces Micah Parsons (No. 12 overall) by 295 tackles — though Parsons plays a fundamentally different edge-rush role. Among true off-ball linebackers from that class, Bolton is the runaway production leader.
A 17-tackle game in Week 16 of 2022 — and four other 14+ tackle outings.
MilestoneTop single-game tackle totals (solo + asst)
| Year | Wk | Opp | Solo | Asst | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16 | vs SEA | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| 2022 | 18 | vs LV | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 2022 | 13 | vs CIN | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| 2025 | 9 | vs BUF | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| 2022 | 6 | vs BUF | 9 | 4 | 13 |
Three of his five highest tackle games came in the 2022 stretch run — leading into the Super Bowl LVII championship. The 17-tackle game vs Seattle (Week 16) is the franchise's highest single-game total of the decade. The 14-tackle game vs Buffalo in 2025 (Week 9, against Josh Allen) shows the form is back to peak.
Two Super Bowl wins (LVII, LVIII) are bracketed by his two best tackle seasons.
SplitBolton in Chiefs Super Bowl runs
| Season | Tackles | Games | Tkl/G |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 (SB LVII W) | 171 | 17 | 10.1 |
| 2023 (SB LVIII W) | 49 | 8 | 6.1 |
He missed half the 2023 championship year (the second Super Bowl win) with the wrist injury, then watched the Chiefs win a second straight ring with backups stepping in. 2022 he played at a defensive MVP level (10.1 tackles per game) and the Chiefs won. The pattern: when he's on the field, the K.C. front seven is a tier better.
The assist column exploded in 2025 — 81 assists, more than any year of his career.
AnomalySolo vs Assist split by season
| Year | Solo | Asst | Solo% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | 42 | 57.6% |
| 2022 | 99 | 72 | 57.9% |
| 2023 | 27 | 22 | 55.1% |
| 2024 | 66 | 33 | 66.7% |
| 2025 | 69 | 81 | 46.0% |
In 2024 he was 2-to-1 solo-to-assist (66/33, 66.7% solo). In 2025 that flipped — 81 assists, 46% solo. Some of that is style-of-play in Steve Spagnuolo's defense (more team gang tackles), but the absolute numbers say he's at almost every play that ends in a stop. He's averaging 8.8 tackles per game this year, his second-highest rate ever.
Top off-ball LB tackle seasons since 2021 — Bolton has two of them.
ComparisonTop LB tackler seasons since 2021
| Player | Year | Tackles |
|---|---|---|
| Jordyn Brooks | 2025 | 180 |
| Foye Oluokun | 2021 | 178 |
| Jack Campbell | 2025 | 174 |
| Nick Bolton | 2022 | 171 |
| Devin White | 2025 | 169 |
| Bobby Wagner | 2023 | 164 |
| Zaire Franklin | 2023 | 159 |
| Bobby Wagner | 2025 | 158 |
| Nick Bolton | 2025 | 150 |
Bolton owns two of the 10 highest LB tackle seasons since 2021 (2022 with 171 and 2025 with 150). The 2022 season is the 4th-most tackles by any linebacker in the past five years — and he did it while playing for the league's most pass-happy defense (Chiefs).
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