*****The George Karlaftis Thread*****

[Dante84]

More to come!

What are the #Chiefs getting in George Karlaftis?

Had an NFC Personnel executive tell me “He reminds me of J.J. Watt, when Watt was coming out. An explosive and versatile playmaker who has a high motor and can line up at 3,5, or 7. Very strong kid” #NFL #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/5qM3g6OrMr

— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) April 29, 2022

George Karlaftis was drafted with pick 30 of round 1 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.23 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 116 out of 1503 DE from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/iXXBvnoFJc #RAS #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/eZ9XjNRDUB

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2022

“I was sitting there the whole night hoping we’d be able to get you.”

Karlaftis gets the call �� pic.twitter.com/DRGBDekvnl

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) April 29, 2022

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

Tik Tok will have gone the way of Facebook by then, nothing but old people and ads for bands

Man, I hope you're right about that. I don't like Tik Tok at all.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I still think the closest comparison is Tamba Hali. Karlaftis is just a little better and will have better coaching than Hali had. Tim Krumrie ain’t walking through that door teaching slap fighting.

Very comparable, though.

Not the longest arms.
Not fast Hali 4.87 Karlaftis 4.75
Elite pressures, had to grow into a finisher. Hali was top 5 in pressures each year in years 2-4 but couldn’t crack around 8 sacks. Karlaftis has the third highest pressure rate of the last 3 years, but topped out at 7.5 sacks.
High motor. Both play to the whistle every down. Non stop.
Naturally strong and understands leverage

Hali 6’3” 275 at combine
Karlaftis 6’4” 266 at combine

Both were born in other countries and have a chip on their shoulder.

Karlaftis is basically Tamba Hali X1.1

I bet he has a similar career trajectory, too. Likely even accelerated because of better tools and coaching for Karlaftis. Karlaftis (if he stays healthy) will probably get 7-9 sacks as a rookie this year. Tamba had 8 as a rookie.

I bet it takes Karlaftis 2 years before he breaks out with 11-13 sacks, but it’s only a matter of time till he does. He’s going to build his strength and pass rush moves. That breakout may even come sooner.

Karlaftis is way, way too stiff to be compared to Hali.

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[BossChief]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Karlaftis is way, way too stiff to be compared to Hali.

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I remember that being an objection to Tamba playing standing up 12 years ago.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Big George has massive hands though, 10.25". When he gets one of those oven mits on you it's over. You're going to see T's screaming at their QB to just lay down because the freight train is coming.

(With that said JJ Watt is a freak of a human being. He has 11 1/8" hands and 34" arms. I'm dropping that comparison. Sheesh...)

All jokes aside, I will say you guys are very much under appreciating Big George's burst off the line. He's an explosive player who does not take plays off. Maybe he'll be a positive influence on Frank Clark.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by ThyKingdomCome15

Big George has massive hands though, 10.25". When he gets one of those oven mits on you it's over. You're going to see T's screaming at their QB to just lay down because the freight train is coming.

(With that said JJ Watt is a freak of a human being. He has 11 1/8" hands and 34" arms. I'm dropping that comparison. Sheesh...)

All jokes aside, I will say you guys are very much under appreciating Big George's burst off the line. He's an explosive player who does not take plays off. Maybe he'll be a positive influence on Frank Clark.

I think the positive influence on Clark ship has sailed. He will probably need his Probation/Parole officer to set him straight.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Originally Posted by raybec 4

I think the positive influence on Clark ship has sailed. He will probably need his Probation/Parole officer to set him straight.

Ouch! Lol

We just need a couple good years out of him. I just want to see him give the effort and put the work in. Half the time he looks and plays like he really doesn't care anymore. I detest that. But when the game is on the line he's full throttle.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Sorry to keep beating the drum guys but you gotta see this. We all know Iowa is an OL football factory. So not a bad study. Big George absolutely wrecked this game. It was so bad that by the 4th quarter Iowa was doubling him with the T and G regardless of what side Big George was on. It opened up the flood gates for other players.

For those who say he's a bit tight, he had a nice sack in this where he displayed he can bend pretty well. He's just so good a bull rushing, excellent hand fighting, that he often doesn't need to. He just goes through their face, which is the fastest path to the QB.

Also interesting is they said Big George had done MMA training in the offseason. He was making these Iowa T's look look like trash half the time.

One more thing, this dude plays straight up twitchy. He has really good burst, wins with his hands, then has a little extra with that twitchy quickness he has. It really is freaky, different, and highly effective.

Being you guys love to dial back the enthusiasm, I'll throw in my negative. There was a few times he straight up got over powered in the running game. These Iowa T's are bulls in that department. But George is so quick and is so good a disengaging that he often gets around them and makes a line to the RB. He did get out of his gap once as well. It should have been another one of his TFL. Instead it was Iowa's biggest chunk play of the game.

It's worth a peek.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7orqwtMeyK8

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Karlaftis is way, way too stiff to be compared to Hali.

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I think you're just flat wrong.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I think you're just flat wrong.

I may be, but I am not the only person who doesn't think he is "bendy" as I have also heard some so called evaluators say the same. I think I heard RGR and Baldinger both say he is stiff.

I want the dude to be a monster, and I want to be wrong.

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[poolboy]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

I may be, but I am not the only person who doesn't think he is "bendy" as I have also heard some so called evaluators say the same. I think I heard RGR and Baldinger both say he is stiff.

I want the dude to be a monster, and I want to be wrong.

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so sick of Bendy..Gumby was bendy....they say that for almost every position now

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

I may be, but I am not the only person who doesn't think he is "bendy" as I have also heard some so called evaluators say the same. I think I heard RGR and Baldinger both say he is stiff.

I want the dude to be a monster, and I want to be wrong.

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And for every one of those I'll find you 5 that love the kid. Maybe he's primarily a bull rusher. That's fine-worked for Ingram for a decade.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

And for every one of those I'll find you 5 that love the kid. Maybe he's primarily a bull rusher. That's fine-worked for Ingram for a decade.

What would you have thought about taking McDuffie at 21, Lewis Cine at 30, and Nik Bonito/Nakobe Dean/Cameron Thomas at 62?

That would give us McDuffie, a better safety than Cook, and possibly a different edge rusher or LB.

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[BigCatDaddy]

I'm liking a Justin Smith comparison.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by poolboy

so sick of Bendy..Gumby was bendy....they say that for almost every position now

You may be sick of the term, but for an edge rusher it's a good attribute to have.

Not only was Tamba bendy, but have you ever seen a DT highlight reel?

On the edge you need some sort of move to get to the QB, as bull rushing won't always work.

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[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

What would you have thought about taking McDuffie at 21, Lewis Cine at 30, and Nik Bonito/Nakobe Dean/Cameron Thomas at 62?

That would give us McDuffie, a better safety than Cook, and possibly a different edge rusher or LB.

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Well, I mean, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts. I had different favorites but I defer to the actual scouts, Veach, and Spags. I'll say this- LDEs are a slightly different type than a RDE. George is definitely a LDE. Strong side guy. Nothing wrong with that.

Some guys win with power, some guys with speed. You may have a preference, but it doesn't discount the other.