#24

Nico Bolden

Senior safety on Kent State's 2022 roster.

S · Kent State · Sr. · #24

6′3″ · 213 lb · Saint Paul, MN

CFB Index 71 · #89 of 493 safetiesMedium confidenceAll-ConferenceKent State 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 1362 nationally · Signed with New Mexico

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 safety on Kent State's roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to New Mexico in 2017.
Transferred from New Mexico to Kent State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Kent State, 236 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2017

Signed with New Mexico3-star out of Woodbury

202111 games

Entered the portal

202211 games

All-MACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1362 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM

All-MAC 2nd team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2022

1 coach

2018–2022

Sean Lewis

Kent State

Played his entire career under Sean Lewis.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018New Mexico3-9HC: Bob Davie · Run-heavy

2019New Mexico2-10HC: Bob Davie · Run-leaning

2020New Mexico2-5HC: Danny Gonzales · Run-leaning

2021Kent State7-7HC: Sean Lewis · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Kent State5-7HC: Sean Lewis · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

71Quality starter #89 of 493?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (99th percentile). Strength: tackles (99th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Solo tackles#16 / 2755 · 99th pct

Tackles#39 / 2755 · 99th pct

103

Passes defended#1116 / 2755 · 48th pct

Tackles for loss#1576 / 2755 · 39th pct

1.5

QB hurries#1444 / 2755 · 24th pct

Sacks#1454 / 2755 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	8.8	0.2	0.0	0.2
Road7g	9.7	0.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	9.0	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	10.0	0.0	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mark Carney

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

71 · #89 of 493 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #89 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Kent State	103	64	1.5	0.0	1	--	--
2021	Kent State	86	48	2.0	1.0	2	2	--
2020	New Mexico	25	15	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2019	New Mexico	16	12	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	New Mexico	6	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		236	143	5.5	1.0	3	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2022

W 63–10

vs Long Island University

9 TOT · 7 SOLO

Dominant 53-point win at home against Long Island University.

With C. Schlee — 199 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.3 · 75 rush yds (4 car) · M. Cooper — 89 rush yds (18 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 20-45@ Washington	6	5	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 3-33@ Oklahoma	12	4	0.5	—	0
Wk 3	W 63-10vs Long Island University	9	7	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 22-39@ Georgia	9	7	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 31-24vs Ohio	7	6	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 24-27@ Miami (OH)	6	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 31-52@ Toledo	14	5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 14 tackles
Wk 8	W 33-27vs Akron	9	8	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	L 20-27vs Ball State	10	8	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 40-6@ Bowling Green	10	6	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 30-27@ Buffalo	11	5	0.0	—	0
Total		103	64	1.5	—	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology