Chiefs Draft: How rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte fits in 2025

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Louisville edge rusher Ashton Gillotte with the 66th pick in last weekend’s NFL Draft. Gillotte was a highly productive college player, recording 26.5 sacks and 41 tackles for loss over four seasons.

The Chiefs already had a solid rotation of edge rushers. How will Gillotte (pronounced jill-LOT-ee) fit in? Let’s take a look.

Player profile

Compared to a typical Kansas City defensive end, Gillote is slightly undersized — but he makes up for it with explosive athletic ability.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Gillotte came in with a compact frame: 6 feet 2 and 264 pounds, with 31 7/8-inch arms. But he also showed he is a superior athlete who displays good explosion, great quickness and solid base strength.

That matches the film he put out during his collegiate career.

On the edge

On film, Gillotte displays a tremendous first step and enough flexibility to bend the arc.

Starting this play aligned wide on the edge, Gillotte quickly fires upfield. As the right tackle tries to get his hands up, Gillotte quickly swipes them away and starts to turn the corner. While he doesn’t quite bring down quarterback Cam Ward, his pressure disrupts the play’s timing; Miami gains only a few yards.

Gillotte’s hand-fighting (and flexibility around the corner) will significantly add to Kansas City’s defense.

On this play, the offense lines up a tight end next to the right tackle. Burning off the snap, Gillotte uses a solid chop to knock down the tackle’s hands before bending the arc and diving at the quarterback. That causes an errant throw that is intercepted.

Gillotte could give the Chiefs another plus: playing in space against the run.

Here we see the offense calling a counter-bash where the quarterback elects to hand off the ball. As the read man, Gillotte plays a surf technique well before showing off good acceleration and lateral mobility to run down the ball carrier.

This athletic play could open up more roles for Gillotte in Kansas City.

Inside presence

For the Cardinals, Gillotte played at around 280 pounds — about 15 pounds more than he weighs now — which allowed him to play inside more often. That’s what Louisville needed fot its defensive scheme. These were the snaps where Gillotte demonstrated his power — and an ability to use leverage to his advantage.

On the snap, the shock from Gillotte’s initial bull rush gets him started against the left guard. Then he uses his strong hands to walk the guard back and blow up the play.

Gillotte also used his explosion against the run.

Here, he fires into the right tackle’s inside shoulder to create penetration, forcing the running back to go outside. While Gillotte doesn’t get credit for the tackle, his teammates understand how easy he makes it for them.

Even without the extra weight he carried in college, Gillotte’s explosion and power should translate to the NFL.

Projecting the future

In Kansas City, Gillotte could be the defense’s Swiss Army knife. His strength and power — along with his lateral mobility — will allow him to play snaps against the run, while his quickness and bend will help him rush the passer from the outside.

Gillotte brings a physical profile and a skillset that will make him unique on the Chiefs’ roster. While George Karlaftis, Mike Danna and Charles Omenihu are all traditional defensive ends who can line up along the inside, Gillotte is a better athlete. This might allow him to play some snaps as an on-ball linebacker and edge setter from multiple alignments — similar to the way the team uses linebacker Leo Chenal, whose athletic testing was similar to Gillotte’s.

While Chenal does play mainly as an off-ball linebacker, his strength and quickness also allow him to play on the line — much like Gillotte could be asked to do as a rookie.

Kansas City’s goal will be to make their new rookie into a starting defensive end — but his athletic ability (and his tenacity) will help him find the field early. As the only player of the group who can truly “bend the arc,” Gillotte’s presence will give the Chiefs another way to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Gillotte even has a connection to Karlaftis. In college, they had the same defensive line coach — and had connected before the draft. While they share some similarities on film, the most obvious is that both play with tremendous effort.

Like his new teammate, Gillotte has a motor that consistently runs hot — which Kansas City might consider as his most important trait. Many players have athleticism and skills — but without the fire to ignite them, they can go to waste.

That won’t happen with Gillotte.