Meet your new Chief: George Karlaftis film review
Meet your new Chief: George Karlaftis film review
Examining where the defensive end wins, what questions exist to his game, and why both sides of the debate surrounding him have a leg to stand on.
If there was one position the Chiefs needed to get help in the 2022 draft, it was at defensive end. With Melvin Ingram departing in free agency (for now) and Kansas City’s pass rush having struggled with consistency last season regardless, it was one of the most obvious issues to be addressed.
Brett Veach did exactly that with the 30th pick (after first addressing a just-as-glaring need at cornerback by trading up for Trent McDuffie), selecting defensive end George Karlaftis out of Purdue.
The pick was met with a great deal of praise from many corners of draft Twitter, but also with a fair amount of criticism from others. On one hand, multiple draftnik types considered Karlaftis one of the better, more refined pass rushers available in the draft.
On the other hand, there is at least a vocal segment that consider Karlaftis overrated and/or maxed out in terms of potential, without room to grow as a pro.
So which “side” is correct? As ever, there isn’t a perfect solution in trying to decipher how a college prospect will translate his game into the pros. There’s a lot of guesswork involved. All one can do is go to the film and see how a player performed, looking for traits that translate to the next level (or an absence of said traits).
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what Karlaftis showed on tape, including a motor that seems to never shut off.
Karlaftis is an interesting player, and after reviewing four games of his all-22 (Notre Dame, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Northwestern) I can understand both why people are very excited about his addition to Kansas City as well as why some have concerns about his ability at the next level.