The KC Chiefs released Anthony Hitchens. What follows might be a little uncomfortable
The Chiefs have moved on from linebacker Anthony Hitchens, an anticipated move they made official with his release Tuesday afternoon.
An easy decision.
Maybe not easy from every angle — Hitchens provided attributes that surpassed the columns on a stat sheet. But his release creates $8.44 million in cap space for a team in need of it, so in the realm that football is a business first and foremost, yes, this decision came easy.
The hard part — the temporarily uncomfortable part, I should say— is what must come next in the chain reaction.
Hand the defense to a 21-year-old.
Give Nick Bolton the reins.
The Chiefs have paved an avenue for Bolton, last year’s second-round pick, to not simply play more frequently but wear the green-dot helmet next year, which would task him with calling the plays, ensuring his teammates are lined up correctly and essentially serving as the quarterback of the defense.
Since his arrival to Kansas City in 2019, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has shown a propensity to play his veterans. Dan Sorensen over Juan Thornhill for a month-plus. Ben Niemann over Willie Gay on third downs. Hitchens over Bolton. All of those examples are from 2021 alone.
This calls for an exception.
Spagnuolo runs a complex system, as his players describe it, and that can tend to push the needle toward those who have been in the league awhile. It’s not exactly illogical — Gay said he struggled to know exactly where to be and when to be there during his rookie year. That hurdle must be leaped before the playing time follows.
But it’s OK to get a little uncomfortable in the short term for the benefit of the long term, if that’s what it takes. The transition from Hitchens — complimented by multiple teammates for his leadership qualities — to Bolton might not be immediately cozy, particularly not for a coordinator who asks a lot of his play-caller. Bolton needs to know more than his assignment on every particular play. He needs to make sure his teammates know theirs, too.
He has taken part in 16 career NFL games. Hitchens? He’s at 119 between stops in Dallas and Kansas City. That makes a difference.
Bolton has proven he’s different. Sure, there could be some growing pains as a play-caller. If so, take the aches early in the season. Reap the rewards when the games matter most.
Bolton has shown the instincts to excel as a middle linebacker. He’s also as sure of a tackler as the Chiefs have on their roster. His 112 tackles led all rookies by a mile. He can play sideline to sideline and spot and shed blocks.
Those traits pop. They should see the field more than 60% of the time, which equaled his snap count total in 2021. In the AFC Championship Game against the Bengals, Bolton stood on the sideline more often than he did the playing field.
In 2021, he played in specific packages. An opponent, therefore, could dictate whether Bolton stayed in the game or was yanked out of it.
It doesn’t have to be that way, you know. The Chiefs can determine when Bolton comes off the field — or, hey, if he comes off the field at all — and Hitchens’ release should force their hand.
Yes, Bolton is imperfect in pass coverage, which was the knock coming out of the draft. But he actually fared better than some scouts expected. Pro Football Focus graded his pass coverage behind only Gay in the Chiefs’ linebackers room, and the two were nearly identical (Gay 65.3, Bolton 64.4).
It might not be Bolton’s strength, in other words, but it’s perhaps not the true weakness some envisioned, either. At least not enough to remove him from the field for the sheer likelihood that another team will throw the football.
Before we conclude here, one more note on Hitchens: Although you’d like a player who cashed $36.5 million over four years to have produced better numbers or more impact plays (turnovers), Hitchens was undervalued outside the organization. In the same manner in which we credit Alex Smith’s guidance for helping to prepare Patrick Mahomes for his eventual starting job, Hitchens showed a willingness to help younger players.
One of the reasons — and, sure, there are more than one reason — Bolton is ready for a larger role is because of Hitchens.
But he is ready.
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