Louisville football recruiting: Defensive end Ashton Gillotte commits to Cards

Louisville football landed its eighth commitment of the 2021 class in defensive end Ashton Gillotte.

The depth in the trenches continues to grow for Louisville football. This time, it’s in the form of 2021 defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte.

It has been known that the Cardinals coaching staff is dead set on fortifying the talent and depth along the offensive and defensive lines, and that has been apparent by the type of players to come off the board early in this class.

The Cardinals secured Victoine Brown, the No. 28 strongside defensive end and 434th player overall according to 247Sports, back in March. This week, rising weakside defensive end Ryheem Craig pledged to the Cards. Now, Gillotte becomes the third defensive lineman in the first eight players.

Gillotte chose the Cardinals over a final five of Pitt, UCF, Duke, and Vanderbilt. He also had standing offers from Dartmouth, Syracuse, Maryland, and Wake Forest and boasts a 3.8 GPA. He is currently rated as the 69th-best weakside defensive end in the class.

https://twitter.com/ashtongillotte/status/1262171225931026432?s=21

At 6’4,” 220 lbs, Gillotte already has outside linebacker size, and with another year and a half to grow into his frame, he will likely be college-ready as far as height and weight.

What stands out right away when you watch Gillotte’s tape is his explosiveness off the line. He plays both ways as a tight end on offense, and he has the speed to get to the second level and athleticism to succeed as a pass-catcher.

However, Gillotte projects as a defensive end in Louisville football’s 3-4 system, and he shows why on tape. He is a speed rusher who can evade an opposing blocker and get to the quarterback in a hurry. Think of a John Greenard type of pass-rush specialist. When he can’t take a proper angle and is forced to get wide, Gillotte doesn’t give up on plays and is constantly in relentless pursuit of the ball.

Louisville football’s major issue on defense last year came in the form of a lack of pass rush. Part of that is by design since Brown and Dennison’s defense isn’t predicated on defensive ends getting to the ball first every time. However, a lot of Louisville’s issues had to do with personnel. The Cards struggled to get into the backfield on passing and rushing plays, and, in turn, surrendered way too many big plays as a result of allowing the opponent too much time to let things develop.

In 2020, the Cards add Ja’Darien Boykin, Yaya Diaby, and Henry Bryant. Now, in 2021, the staff has already started off by landing Brown, Craig, and Gillotte. This is a great job by the staff recognizing players that fit their system and fill a need and getting those guys locked down first.

Stay tuned for more Louisville football recruiting news as the Cardinals coaching staff looks to seal the deal with a number of top-name players in the 2021 class.

You can catch Gillotte’s highlights here.

Ashton Gillotte junior year.