The Kansas City Chiefs have long focused on building through the draft and have supplemented the roster with selective free-agent moves. It was a winning formula up until last season, when the NFL’s designed model for parity finally caught up with the NFL’s best team over the last decade.
Even with the Chiefs coming off a down year, it feels like general manager Brett Veach and his staff have stuck to their model and are set on rebuilding this team with the same tried-and-true philosophy. But for
this team-building method to work, it is imperative to hit on the draft picks.
Often, you don’t know if a pick was a good selection or not until a year or two down the road, and even then, things can change.
Last summer, I wrote a review of the 2024 class, and in it, I gave the selection of Kingsley Suamataia an F and called it one of Veach’s worst draft picks ever.
Fast forward another year, and while Suamataia doesn’t appear set up to become a starting tackle in the NFL, he has made a strong impression at left guard and fills an important hole in this offense.
Just as we did last season, we’ll focus on the Chiefs’ top four selections from the 2025 NFL Draft: left tackle Josh Simmons, defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott, edge rusher Ashton Gillotte, and cornerback Nohl Williams.
Let’s dive in.
LT – Josh Simmons – RD 1 – Pick 32
I almost feel like this grade should be an incomplete because, although Simmons played exceptionally well when he was on the field in his rookie season, he also missed nine games due to injury and personal off-field reasons.
And while this may not have been his fault per se, it’s hard to say that this selection was an A+ when we have yet to see Simmons play an entire season.
At the same time, from a talent level alone, Simmons was a home run selection and was pretty clearly the best tackle selected in the draft last season. Which makes anything below an A feel unjust. Simmons has all the tools and the football IQ to be one of the best linemen in the NFL if he can just stay on the field.
Still, as of the moment of this writing, all systems seem to be a go for Simmons, and for once, the Chiefs have an offseason where the team is not trying to figure out who is playing left tackle, and that alone is worth better than a B+ in my book.
Updated draft grade: A–
DT – Omarr Norman-Lott – RD 2 – Pick 63
Part of what made Norman-Lott an intriguing prospect was his explosiveness off the snap and his ability to rush the passer; however, after the Chiefs selected him, one of the first things the organization told him to work on was adding weight. Lott weighed 291 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he played the season 24 pounds heavier at 314 pounds
Lott was never a full-time player in college, so maybe it was the jump in talent. Maybe it was the added weight. Maybe it was lingering injuries he was fighting. But he never looked comfortable on the field last season, and the explosiveness he exhibited at Tennessee had all but dissipated.
It doesn’t help matters that Norman-Lott is coming off a torn ACL he suffered against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7 of last season. A big guy returning from a serious knee injury is a lot different than another player, and it could be a long road for Norman-Lott to even get back on the field, let alone make an impact.
Updated draft grade: D
DE – Ashton Gillotte – RD 3 – Pick 66
It’s 2026, and the Chief entered the NFL Draft with the largest need on their roster being a pass rusher. That should tell you most of what you need to know about this selection. While he was mostly healthy for the year and made some impact plays on special teams, Gillotte was a non-factor in the most important aspect of his job, and that’s getting to the quarterback, mustering just 1.5 sacks while appearing in 17 games last season.
If he were the answer, the Chiefs wouldn’t have selected R Mason Thomas with the 40th pick in the draft this year. It’s not that Gillotte is a bad player; he is a guy who can eat snaps, and that’s about it.
Updated draft grade: C
CB – Nohl Williams – RD 4 – Pick 85
With the loss of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, right now, it looks like one of the starting outside cornerback positions will be manned by Williams. While still far from a lockdown corner, he showed enough in 2026 to earn the coaching staff’s trust and the shot to claim the starting job on the outside heading into camp. But it will be up to him to hold onto it.
Williams uses his length well and seems to excel in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s press-man coverage system. He was more of a zone coverage ballhawk in college, so seeing him make this transition in the NFL has been fun to watch.
With the addition of Mansoor Delane at cornerback as well, the Chiefs have a chance to boast one of the better secondaries in the NFL this year.
Updated Draft Grade: B+
