With the 30th pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select Purdue EDGE George Karlaftis.
GRADE: B-.
The Chiefs are in need of edge disruption, but were this my call, I would have gone with Minnesota’s Boye Mafe, or taken a medical redshirt on Michigan’s David Ojabo. Karlaftis is an above-average strong-side end in an old-school way, but his limitations could show up with more presence in the NFL.
Height: 6’3 3/4″ Weight: 266
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 21 reps (30th)
Vertical Jump: 38 inches (91st)
Broad Jump: 121 inches (80th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.36 seconds (66th)
Wingspan: 78 7/8 inches (23rd)
Arm Length: 32 5/8 inches (16th)
Hand Size: 10 1/4 inches (78th)
Bio: Football was not George Karlaftis’ first sport. Born in Athens, Greece, he was a top goalkeeper on Greece’s 16-and-under national water polo team. When his father died in 2014, Karlaftis’ mother moved the family to her hometown of West Lafayette, Indiana, and that’s where Karlaftis got his first taste of football. He became a four-star recruit, and turned down offers from most of the NCAA’s major programs in favor of Purdue, which was much closer to home. He made First-Team Freshman All-American and Second-Team All-Big Ten in 2019. leading Purdue with 7.5 sacks and 17.0 tackles for loss. In 2020, he missed half of the season due to injuries and COVID and still made Second-Team All-Big Ten. Last season, he made Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-Big Ten with five sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles.
Stat to Know: Among edge-rushers in the 2022 class, only Penn State’s Arnold Ebiketie and Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson had a higher Pressure Share rate (the percentage of pressures created by one defender on a team) than Karlaftis’ 27% in 2021.
Strengths: Karlaftis has an appealing combination of technique and effort — he goes hard all the time, and when he marries his pass-rush moves to that, the combination is tough to beat. This rip counter move, and chasing the quarterback? You can work with that in the NFL right now.
And even when he’s pressing to the pocket with everything he’s got, he’s aware of what’s going on around him. He was rewarded with a touchdown for this against Wisconsin.
The way he bodies into this spin move is something he can further develop at the NFL level. I’m impressed with the palette of techniques Karlaftis has developed, and there’s more to unlock.
Karlaftis was double-teamed at a pretty high rate, and he was generally able to create pressure — again, through speed and technique, and this is where the power comes in.
Weaknesses: The downside to Karlaftis’ elevated technique? He really needs it. His short wingspan and arm length show up when he tries to extend into the tackle, and it just doesn’t work consistently. A longer-armed tackle like Indiana’s Caleb Jones, who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 362 pounds? If a guy like this gets his arms out first, Karlaftis is going to be stuck more often than not.
Karlaftis is also not a natural bender; he’s going to have to effort his way through the arc, and that does not always work. He’s more stocky and violent and quick than fluid.
Conclusion: Just because Karlaftis doesn’t pop off the tape as the traditional long, smooth edge defender doesn’t mean that he can’t succeed at the next level. There are physical limitations that will get in his way against the NFL’s best blockers, but I also have a feeling that he’ll work the game as well as he possibly can to become a productive player over a number of years.
NFL Comparison: Kyle Vanden Bosch. The common comparison here is Ryan Kerrigan, but beyond the whole “white pass-rushers who went to Purdue” thing, I can’t really go there. Kerrigan had more pure attributes that are more developable over time, while Karlaftis looks more like a very good player who is going to max out his potential — not a bad thing at all. The more I watched Karlaftis, the more I was reminded of Kyle Vanden Bosch, the estimable strong-side end who became a Pro Bowl force with the Tennessee Titans in the early 2000s. Like Vanden Bosch, I think that Karlaftis will be at his best aligned to the formation, kicking inside, and working stunts and twists. His NFL upside is a very good player who could be made great by alignment and scheme.