The Kansas City Chiefs selected Louisville defensive end Ashton Gillotte early in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, a gift from the Tennessee Titans as part of the L'Jarius Sneed trade from 2024.
Gillotte earned a spot in the defensive line rotation right out of training camp and saw playing time in all 17 games this season. He was even voted the Mack Lee Hill Award winner for KC’s best rookie by his teammates. That is a solid rookie year for Gillotte, but the question remains: just how big of a role should he have for the Chiefs moving forward?
Did Ashton Gillotte deserve to be named Chiefs' Rookie of the Year?
Meanwhile, Gillotte was a consistent contributor at defensive end all season long, totaling 485 defensive snaps. That was good for 47% of KC’s defensive snaps on the season. That ranked third among Chiefs defensive ends, behind George Karlaftis, who played 78%, and Charles Omenihu, who played 55%, but ahead of Mike Danna, who played 42%.
Gillotte officially ended the year with 38 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one pass defended, five run stuffs, and a blocked kick. Pro Football Focus ranked him 87th among 119 edge defenders who played enough snaps to qualify. He posted a 66.7 run defense grade and a 48.7 pass rush grade (which ranked 118th out of the 119 qualifying edge players). While PFF isn’t perfect when it comes to evaluating players, it’s fair to say that as a rookie, Gillotte was definitely better against the run than he was as a pass rusher.
PFF credited Gillotte with 24 total pressures on 268 pass rush snaps. That’s one pressure every 11.2 pass rush snaps. For comparison, George Karlaftis had 66 pressures on 463 pass rush snaps, or one pressure every seven pass rush snaps (and Karlaftis isn’t exactly a prolific pass rusher). On the other hand, Mike Danna managed just nine pressures on 192 pass rush snaps, or one every 21.3 pass rush snaps. That seems particularly worth noting.
What should Ashton Gillotte's role be going forward?
The Kansas City Chiefs clearly need more pass-rush pressure from their defensive ends. While Gillotte was a solid role player in his rookie season, his biggest area of weakness happens to line up with KC’s biggest area of need. Charles Omenihu is a pending free agent and didn’t play well enough last season for it to make sense for KC to re-sign him.
That means the Chiefs’ defensive ends currently under contract for next season are Karlaftis, Gillotte, Danna, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who has underwhelmed and is coming off an injury. When you look at it that way, Gillotte is clearly Kansas City's second-best defensive end under contract for next season. However, the Chiefs simply can’t enter the season with him as their No. 2 defensive end.
The Chiefs must find an upgrade at defensive end opposite George Karlaftis, particularly on passing downs. Gillotte seems better suited for Danna’s former role as an early-down run stopper who comes off the field (or kicks inside) on passing downs. Consequently, the Chiefs could save almost $9 million by releasing Danna this offseason. As a rookie, Gillotte generated more pressure and graded out stronger against the run than Danna did.
So the logical answer to the question of what Ashton Gillotte’s role should be for the Chiefs moving forward is that he should replace Mike Danna as an early-down run stuffer and rotational defensive end. He certainly has the opportunity to continue improving as a pass rusher, but given the Chiefs’ significant need to upgrade their edge rush, there needs to be a significant addition who plays ahead of Gillotte in clear passing situations.
The Chiefs could target a better pass-rushing defensive end in free agency, or they could potentially use the No. 9 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on an edge prospect like Rueben Bain Jr. from Miami or David Bailey from Texas Tech. Either way, the job of being K.C.'s starting defensive end opposite George Karlaftis is up for grabs. Gillotte proved he deserves to be part of Steve Spagnuolo's defensive rotation as a rookie, but more help is needed if the Chiefs want their pass rush to rebound from a down season.