Five takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs 2025 NFL Draft class
The Chiefs spent the bulk of their financial resources this offseason on non-premium positions — linebacker and offensive guard atop the list.
They went the other way in the draft.
For however you grade their draft haul, and plenty of us will do precisely that, there is at least one thing that should be praised: They targeted premium positions early.
Exclusively, even.
Their initial four picks — Ohio State tackle Josh Simmons (first round), Tennessee defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott (second), Louisville edge Ashton Gillotte (third) and Cal cornerback Nohl Williams (third) — all occupy those spots.
Those are not only among the most important positions on a football field, but they are also the most expensive in free agency. The only chance to find them at a reasonable bargain, in other words, is to find them in the draft.
That’s one thing to know about the Chiefs’ draft haul. I’ve offered my thoughts already on Simmons as this draft’s headliner — why it’s a risk, but more importantly, why the Chiefs are the team positioned to take that risk.
Here are five more observations about the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2025 draft class:
1. Why I love the Jalen Royals pick
Ahead of the NFL Draft, I picked out two middle-round players who I thought would be great fits for the Chiefs:
The top of that list: Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals.
It’s going to be a real jump for Royals to move from Utah State to the NFL. We’ll see how that learning curve progresses.
Royals was limited to seven games last year, catching 55 passes for 839 yards in those seven games.
But what really stands out is how he acquired the yardage. Royals had 436 total yards after the catch, an average of 7.9 yards after the catch per reception, per PFF. That ranked 11th in FBS among receivers targeted at least 50 times.
With teams settling into deep shells against the Chiefs, the best answer is to gain the yards after the catch if you can’t gain them through the air. It’s why they badly missed Rashee Rice after his season-ending injury. It’s why they altered the role for Xavier Worthy late in his rookie year.
Royals already has that skill.
“The (yards after catch) ability stands out, and that was throughout his three years at Utah State,” said Greg Castillo, a Chiefs regional scout, later adding, “I mean over guys, through guys, around guys. That’s the beauty about this player. It’s just pure versatility.”
2. What the Chiefs waited to accomplish
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach referred to running back as the deepest position in this year’s draft.
He sure tested that theory.
The Chiefs waited until the final round, trading up to take SMU’s Brashard Smith with the 228th pick.
Smith is new to the position — transitioning to running back at SMU after three years as a wide receiver at Miami. But he was productive in that lone year, and he might make an impact in the return game.
But make no mistake: KC could use some help at his primary position.
The Chiefs ran the ball 450 times in 2024, 16th most in the NFL, but they turned only 33 of them into gains of at least 10 yards. That’s fewer explosive rushes than every team in the league.
It’s been an underrated need all offseason.
3. The Ashton Gillotte hidden numbers
If you look at a traditional box score, third-round choice Ashton Gillotte had a down senior season after a breakout year as a junior. Gillotte had only 4 1/2 sacks in 2024, after totaling 11 the year before.
That could mislead you.
It didn’t mislead the Chiefs.
The deeper numbers tell a different story, one in which Gillotte was affecting the quarterback just as frequently as he did as a junior — even if he didn’t bring them to the ground.
Gillotte had only one fewer pressure, per PFF data. He finished top-11 among edge rushers in each of the last two years in pressures.
“Sometimes, the sack numbers, I think, can be a little misleading,” said Mike Bradway, Chiefs senior director of player personnel. “Hurry rate, pressure rate — you can feel them when you watch the tape.”
4. The first-round trade
The Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023 and managed to avoid picking No. 32 overall.
They lost the Super Bowl in February and then wound up at 32.
Go figure.
They opened their draft on Thursday night not with a player selection but with a trade — moving back just one spot and picking up the Eagles’ fifth-round pick in the process.
For starters, it’s terrific business. An extra player is on his way to KC because of it.
But it caught my attention for a second reason. The Eagles sacrificed a fifth-round pick just to ensure they could pick in front of the Chiefs, and the Chiefs only agreed to the deal after knowing the Eagles weren’t targeting the same player.
So why would the Eagles feel a need to make that trade anyway?
They quite evidently felt the Chiefs might make the deal with someone else instead. I’ll rephrase that: They evidently had reason to believe the Chiefs were at least contemplating moving out of the first round altogether.
That would have been against the Brett Veach grain.
5. The other trade
It didn’t make as much noise as a small first-round trade, but the Chiefs made another trade two rounds later.
They jumped up 10 spots in the third round — from 95 overall to 85 — and relinquished a 2026 fourth-round pick to do it. That’s an expensive price. The draft pick value charts suggested they give up just a fifth-rounder to make that 10-spot move at that point in the draft.
The Chiefs plucked California cornerback Nohl Williams at 85, feeling as though it required a trade because of a recent run of corners. They like that Williams can play on the outside, and his physical style indeed looks like a fit in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s system.
Another notable aspect of that trade: That fourth-round pick is the selection they acquired from the Bears in exchange for Joe Thuney.
Which means the Chiefs’ lone compensation for Thuney, as it turns out, becomes the ability to move up all of 10 spots in the third round.
That ain’t much.
This story was originally published April 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM.