Mizzou junior Nick Bolton listed as one of 18 Tigers to be honored on Senior Day
The soul and centerpiece of the Missouri Tigers’ defense will walk onto Faurot Field for Saturday’s Senior Day celebration.
Junior linebacker Nick Bolton, a potential SEC defensive player of the year candidate, was listed by MU as one of 18 players who will be honored before Mizzou’s 11 a.m. game against Arkansas.
Bolton hasn’t publicly announced whether he will declare for the 2021 NFL Draft. The team is allowing him to participate in Senior Day in case it is one of his last games in a Mizzou uniform.
While one of the main knocks on Bolton is that he’s undersized at 6-foot and 232 pounds, he’s everywhere on the field, collecting tackles. He’s been projected as a first round pick should he leave college.
“I feel like I’m the baddest SOB out there on the field,” Bolton has said. “Just coming out there every day and prove that. I feel like I try to be the best football player on the field at all times. That’s just the mindset I bring to the football field. I don’t want to lose a rep.”
Bolton leads the Tigers with 76 tackles in 2020, which is seventh in the SEC, though he’s only played in seven games. He’s also added two sacks, four pass break-ups and one fumble recovery.
While he was under-recruited and a three-star prospect coming out of high school, Bolton has been Mizzou’s best defender for the past two seasons.
Bolton, a Frisco, Texas, native, broke out during the 2019 season after linebacker Cale Garrett went down with a season-ending pectoral injury. Bolton earned first-team All-SEC honors as his 107 tackles led the league.
The Tigers have three games remaining in 2020, starting with Arkansas on Saturday. Two games, Georgia and at Mississippi State, still need to be rescheduled after COVID-19 postponements.
While seniors will walk on Saturday, some players could return for the 2021 season. The NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility for all fall athletes this season. MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz said if some players do not walk Saturday, that likely indicates they will return for another season with the Tigers.
Bolton, a junior, will have two more years of college eligibility after the 2020 season. However, he’s able to declare early for the NFL Draft and forgo remaining eligibility because he’s been in college for three years.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 2:05 PM.