Fun little draft nugget (Ashton Gillotte)
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s here.<br><br>And it&#39;s instant cinema.<a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSilver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeSilver</a>&#39;s behind-the-scenes from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jaguars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Jaguars</a> War Room is a must-read for all in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DUUUVAL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DUUUVAL</a> and beyond... and confirms A LOT about how Day 2 played out especially <a href="https://t.co/0s2KBjegqd">https://t.co/0s2KBjegqd</a></p>&mdash; Mia O&#39;Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiaOBrienTV/status/1917200065711497227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mike Silver was in the Jags war room and revealed that they were going to take Gillotte at 70. When the Chiefs took him, they traded back.

Before they traded back, the Rams called and made an offer, but they also changed their mind when Gillotte came off the board.

Sounds like both the Jags and Rams really wanted this dude.

Yeah, that is interesting.

He fits the same type of play style as Verse (powerful, compact end with some speed), so not surprised the Rams were interested.

Am I missing that in the article? I don't see anything in there about this

Really? I didn't even get the chance to read it. My friend who's a Jags fan is the one that told me and I assumed this was the article he was talking about. I'll get the correct link from him.

Edit: should be the right one now

U

Mentioned this before. This kid was a first rd pick a year ago. He’s going be really good and good franchises know it.

https://www.si.com/college/louisvill...irst-round-buz

The Rams have done a damn good job of drafting edges the last couple of years also. Not just Verse, Byron Young was a great pick too.

You could hear the excitement in Ryne Nutt's voice when he talked about Gillotte yesterday.

I said it in the Bassa thread (and I think the draft thread) and this really further cements it.

More than any other Veach draft I can recall, this one really seemed to show (even without us having this kind of behind the scenes knowledge) that Veach NAILED the overall trends of this draft.

He just kept doing this. He kept grabbing a guy right before a run. And then waiting until after a run confident that someone else he really liked would slide.

He 'gamed' this draft beautifully. The only pick I can think of where he may not have really been directly trying to triage the board a bit was the ONL pick and even with that one, I think he saw has fast the board dropped off for interior pass rushers after ONL and grabbed the last one available that I thought was a real stand-out in that area.

Maybe the players don't pan out -- it happens. But in terms of how the draft was run, you really couldn't have asked for more. I get the feeling he got damn near every guy he wanted and right where he wanted them -- and most critically, where he HAD to take them.

Strictly from an operations perspective, it was phenomenally well done...

To use an F1 analogy -- he got the pit strategy right. And the crew nailed their marks on every stop. The only question is if they actually built a fast car. The operations was perfect -- we'll see how the engineering goes as the race progresses.

He nailed operations -- time will tell how scouting went.

They were going to supposedly take Harvey at 70 before he went of the board as well.

Even if Simmons busts completely out this will end up Veach's 2nd best draft.

Ah yes. Trip MacCracken, brother of Phil.

That really is an interesting nugget, thanks staylor.

Have to say that I'm more confident about Gillotte than I probably am any other pick. I didn't get why draft boards had him lower, and I'm not surprised the NFL liked him more. I definitely preferred him to a number of guys touted as better, like Landon Jackson, Scourton, Kennard etc.

Pretty bold prediction not sure I agree though.


This draft is great but it's A+ vs C+ depending on Simmons imo

If you end up with 5 starters/contributors that's an extraordinary draft. Each one of these guys should contribute year 1. Positions like DE/DT often take a little longer to season and come along and our new coverage LB isn't exactly bumping Bolton or Tranquil for snaps in year one. That said our WR and HB should have a role immediately and see that role grow as quickly as they pick it up and produce.

We've needed a coverage guy at LB for years. We've needed big play ability at HB for about 2 years. We've needed pass rush help at DT for years. We've needed a ball hawk/playmaker who can create turnovers in the secondary for years. Nearly all these guys were taken in their projected range or much much lower than where they were projected. When you can address needs while getting great value at the individual picks I'd argue you've nailed the process.

“(Gillotte) was one of the favorites among DL coaches around the league. Feel like he’s got a chance to be a double-digit sack artist.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cynthia Frelund picked the Chiefs as the winners for the 1st round. And Daniel Jeremiah picked the Chiefs the winners again for the 3rd round. Brett Veach had another amazing draft. �� <a href="https://t.co/OAlmX3JQxt">pic.twitter.com/OAlmX3JQxt</a></p>&mdash; Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradHensonPro/status/1917553020109479948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I've been jerking it to this draft for days!

Funny enough, of all the "I hopes" I've taken from this draft, Bassa bumping Tranquil out of the starting Will job could be the most impactful.

I mean there's obviously the "I hope ONL is Aaron Donald 2.0" sort of stuff. But let's just assume a top 75% outcome for any of these draft picks -- we have solid depth at OT, at DL (with our DEs often doing their best work inside on the pass rush), CB, WR and even RB when Mitchell is healthy.

Linebacker may be the position where we have a guy MOST likely to force himself into action. And Bolton always seems to have a 2-3 week injury absence at some point. Tranquil, as he ages, may be more likely to be injured and he's already undersized. And ultimately, Tranquil just looked a lot slower last season.

Bassa is a guy who could really come up massive for us this season.

Is it crazy that a third round pick who hasn’t even made it to rookie mini camp has changed my stance on extending Karlaftis at least for the moment?

That can obviously change if George can take another step as a pass rusher. But I’m a little cautious on giving him huge money for what he has been

The issue I've always had with "coverage linebacker" is that in today's NFL, what's a "passing down vs running down"?

You need linebackers that can really do it all it seems.

“Juiced up Danna” seems to be this kids comp and I don’t think that’s fair. Danna is pure effort on the edge bc his lateral agility and pass rush moves are average at best.

I feel like higher ceiling Karlaftis is a fair comp for this kid. Similar solid strength at the point, shorter arms, almost exact same shuttle time and similar above average 10 split and 3 cone. Both also have arms in the 32 range.

Gillotte was better in college though. And he’s got an elite 10 split as well as a below 7 second 3 cone. His pass rush moves are better than George had as a prospect and I wonder if working with George in the offseason helped this kid.

Karlaftis wins a lot with effort and sometimes pure talent. It feels like Gillette can and will win with pure talent more often and can possibly be a guy who doesn’t rely on having multiple other ass kickers on the DL to put him in 1v1 situations for success.

Very similar to last season's with Kingsley.

Keysor broke him down and kind of concluded he has the best traits of each guy. Effort. Leverage (Danna). Athleticism and power (Karlaftis). With better bend than Karlaftis.

I'm honestly happy to be ripped for this prediction, but I think he'll be better than Karlaftis for the exact reasons mentioned. Less length, sure, but he's more powerful, especially in the lower half, and his bend is imo definitely better.