The Chiefs' Highest-Paid Linebacker Hasn't Been Their Best, and That's Alright

The Kansas City Chiefs rolled into the year with plenty of questions on the defensive side of the ball, especially after an offseason filled with change. That applied to the linebacker position as well, with Leo Chenal departing for the Washington Commanders in free agency and leaving someone else to fill his spot.

With that said, the starting duo of Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill remained. The former is regarded as the on-field coach and leader of the defense — essentially an extension of coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The latter, meanwhile, was coming off a couple of down years and took a pay cut to return for what could be one last dance in Kansas City.

Four games into the season, the expectations of many haven't aligned with reality. Bolton and his $19.25 million cap hit have been outplayed by Tranquill and his $5M mark, although that isn't necessarily the end of the world. It's less of an indictment on Bolton and more a praise of Tranquill's performance thus far.

Coverage numbers tend to vary by site, so it's better to paint a picture of a player's output by coming up with an average. After sorting through Pro Football Reference, Pro Football Focus and NFL Pro's data, the stat line matches the eye test.

Both players combined for an average of 12 targets in the passing game in Weeks 1-4. Bolton surrendered 10.3 completions, 7.0 yards per target and a 103.0 passer rating. Tranquill, on the other hand, ceded 5.3 completions, 5.3 yards per yarget and a passer rating of 60.0. Add in that Bolton's facing the lowest average depth of target of his career (3.1 yards) and Tranquill's is his highest since 2022 (4.8), and you get a pretty clear read.

Tranquill is also faring better as a disruptor in all phases despite Bolton having 22 "stops" to his 18. The 31-year-old maintains an 11.8% pressure rate to his peer's 9.1% figure, along with a 3.3% missed tackle clip to Bolton's 9.8%. There wasn't a much better game to sum up Tranquill's efforts than him terrorizing the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4.

Spagnuolo is using Tranquill in a variety of ways, including lining him up along the defensive line on 36 occasions. The 'backer owns a 27.9% blitz rate, which clears 2025 (24.4%) as his most significant usage in that role as a Chief. Bolton himself admitted back in August that there would "never" be a true replacement for Chenal, but Spagnuolo throwing multiple things at the wall and hoping something sticks seems to be the plan. Tranquill is a part of that attempted solution.

The same can't really be said for Jack Cochrane or Jeffrey Bassa. Neither player is making much of an impact on defense, but Bassa did notch a forced fumble on special teams in Las Vegas. The signing of Cam Jones to the 53-man roster signals that Cooper McDonald isn't ready to return, and Cole Christiansen's game-day elevations from the practice squad are capped. This is a depth chart that's extremely top-heavy entering Week 6.

Bolton enjoyed plenty of plus moments before the bye, but it's Tranquill who's been the plus player at that position to this point. The blend of better-than-expected coverage, relentless attacking in run defense and quality fundamentals as both a tackler and blitzer is tough to argue against. The Chiefs can't ask for much more and should instead simply hope this level of play can be sustained.

If the rest of the linebacker room ascends as well, the Kansas City defense will continue to jell post-bye and down the stretch of the regular season.

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