Expect to Hear a Lot About Chiefs' Ashton Gillotte

Get ready to hear a lot of Ashton Gillotte, especially since the Chiefs have seven primetime games and eight contests in standalone NFL windows.

The Chiefs’ third-round draft pick, whose name is pronounced jill-AWT-ee, has five words in his Louisville football biography that should fire up Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Steve Spagnuolo, and everyone associated with the Chiefs.

Led the country in hurries.

Affecting quarterbacks with unexpected pressure could be the underrated fuel that supplies the Chiefs with another Super Bowl title. In both 2022 and 2023, the last two seasons Kansas City won the Super Bowl, Spagnuolo’s unit finished second among NFL teams in sacks. Last year, the Chiefs were tied for 18th.

But insert Gillotte and second-round defensive tackle Omar Norman-Lott – Gillotte’s new roommate -- into the rotation on passing downs and the Chiefs might’ve indirectly helped Mahomes by applying more pressure to opposing quarterbacks.

Those opponent quarterbacks are brutal this year. When the NFL unveiled its 2025 schedule Wednesday night, the Chiefs saw when they’ll meet Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, Josh Allen and Dak Prescott.

And that’s just outside their division. The AFC West features the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Denver’s Bo Nix, while adding Geno Smith to the Pete Carroll-Chip Kelly offense in Las Vegas.

Chris Jones and George Karlaftis needed some help and Brett Veach gave it to them. Gillotte not only led the nation in hurries, but he also had 25½ career sacks. And while his sacks fell from 11 during his All-America junior season to 4½ last year, he actually produced more quarterback pressures as a senior. He even moved inside to line up at the 3-technique in certain packages.

A 6-3, 264-pound edge defender who grew up in South Florida, Gillotte once had aspirations of becoming a Navy SEAL. His older brother Devin is a professional MMA fighter and trainer, according to Dane Brugler. And if you didn’t like him already, consider that Gillotte donated his NIL money in college to organizations that support veterans.

“I got a lot of military family,” Gillotte explained earlier this month. “My dad's an ex-Marine. My uncle was in Iraq, Army. But just being able to see, for example, for my uncle, just seeing the lack of support for it and kind of almost how they get overlooked. Veterans kind of get overlooked nowadays. So, just being able to call attention to that and make them feel loved because a lot of vets don't feel like it.”

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