*****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

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

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.

That's a breath of fresh air. Most of our CP experts who are still upset about these picks are doing their own "in depth" analysis (based on the 2 years of High Scholl football they played) while taking calls in the time share sales office.

[BossChief]

The post draft presser seemed to have a part where Veach indirectly talked about Ojabo. Said he is ok with projects, but with Pat, they need to make moves to be aggressive every year and the picks this year needed to have that as a big part of their process.

I understand that, but man it would have been nice if he fell to an area Veach would’ve been comfortable taking him.

Good luck in Detroit, Jameson and Ojabo.

[Iconic]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

I'm liking a Justin Smith comparison.

Or maybe a different Justin, one that Spags has worked with... Justin Tuck? I could even see him turning into Ryan Kerrigan lite. Definitely has the same relentless motor as him.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by BossChief

The post draft presser seemed to have a part where Veach indirectly talked about Ojabo. Said he is ok with projects, but with Pat, they need to make moves to be aggressive every year and the picks this year needed to have that as a big part of their process.

I understand that, but man it would have been nice if he fell to an area Veach would’ve been comfortable taking him.

Good luck in Detroit, Jameson and Ojabo.

Umm Ojabo got drafted by the Raves lol.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Umm Ojabo got drafted by the Raves lol.

Oh lord. Nothing to see here.

[poolboy]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

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.

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

so thats what bendy means...some sort of move to the qb? Can bendy be taught or is it a god given skill?
Tamba didnt have all his moves out of college....I saw him out hand fighting with his coach before every home game

[Chief3188]

Originally Posted by poolboy

so thats what bendy means...some sort of move to the qb? Can bendy be taught or is it a god given skill?
Tamba didnt have all his moves out of college....I saw him out hand fighting with his coach before every home game

It's more of a flexibility thing and they are right that most of the great pass rushers have it.

It is where the lower half of the body can keep the entire body moving in a forward motion even when the top half of the body is getting pushed back. Throw in long arms with this trait and you have a potential monster like DT was.

But there are many good to great players who use more power, technique and motor (Tamba Hali) to achieve near the same results. It is just harder to achieve without that natural ability to bend.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by poolboy

so thats what bendy means...some sort of move to the qb? Can bendy be taught or is it a god given skill?
Tamba didnt have all his moves out of college....I saw him out hand fighting with his coach before every home game

Hip and ankle flexion to get low while maintaining balance around the arc to the QB. You look for the flatten when the clear the backside of the tackle on the approach...

Nice video here I found for you of a guy that does it really well:

Christian Miller had my curiosity, but now he's got my attention. pic.twitter.com/HMSlnBCBVE

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) February 11, 2019

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by poolboy

so thats what bendy means...some sort of move to the qb? Can bendy be taught or is it a god given skill?

Tamba didnt have all his moves out of college....I saw him out hand fighting with his coach before every home game

That's a good question. I don't know if the ability to contort your body can be taught, but better techniques can be taught.

But, it seems like it's just an innate ability to elude the blocker.

Most successful pass rushers have a go to move, like the Freeney spin, the Tamba bend, the DT dip and strip, or the Deacon Jones Head Club, or the Reggie White super shove.

Not many NFL tackles get bull rushed more than once in a game. I have no statistics to back that up, but it seems true.

Some players

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

That's a good question. I don't know if the ability to contort your body can be taught, but better techniques can be taught.

But, it seems like it's just an innate ability to elude the blocker.

Most successful pass rushers have a go to move, like the Freeney spin, the Tamba bend, the DT dip and strip, or the Deacon Jones Head Club, or the Reggie White super shove.

Not many NFL tackles get bull rushed more than once in a game. I have no statistics to back that up, but it seems true.

Some players

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

I mean, they can get better but they still have to have the physical ability and that's just not something you're going to see coming from Karlaftis, but there are plenty of other ways for him to win.

I think if you want a crash course on how I forsee Karlaftis winning, here's a video of Cam Jordan from a few years back. Now, Karlaftis is smaller than Jordan at this point but the wins are probably going to come similarly...

[Chris Meck]

I think we're comparing apples to oranges here, and some are hyper focused on one specific attribute instead of looking at the player as a whole.

Is Karlaftis as 'bendy' as Derrick Thomas? Well, of course not. Hardly anyone is.

Comparing what is a big, strong, bull rusher type DE to speed rushers is apples to oranges.

You may PREFER the speed rushers, and you probably wished we'd drafted one of those, and that's totally a legit opinion.

but discounting what the kid IS because he's not what you WANTED is not fair.

This kid is 21. He's got room to physically grow, he's got loads of talent, and will continue to refine. He's got the WANT TO.

People want to knock the athleticism, and he had a damned 9.28 RAS score. I mean what the ****?

His arms are too short, but they're longer than Hutchinson's. Did anyone complain about Hutchinsons' arm length?

He's going to be more of a big, stout, bull rush type guy. He's not going to blow past tackles and bend out around them.

yeah, most of your record setting type DE's do that. Lots of your consistent, pain the ass DE's are of a different sort-THIS sort.

He's got heavy hands, he's strong as an ox, and he's going to shove OT's right into the QB's lap. There's plenty of video of him doing exactly that. He's going to line up right next to Chris Jones. Who you gonna double?

He's a different type of edge than say, an Ebiketie, or what have you. He's not a Derrick Thomas type. He's not a glorified OLB/rushbacker. He's a DEFENSIVE END. He's not going to bend out around and try to beat OT's on an arc. He's going to punch them in the mouth and go through them.

If you're expecting this kid to put up 15 sacks a year, yeah, you're probably going to be disappointed. That rare air is usually reserved for the speed demon rushers. He ain't that guy. But you're not getting that guy at 30.

But there's plenty of room for a 6-8 sack guys, that's relentless, that stuff the run, that shove OT's back and into the QB's face. He's THAT kind of DE.

Look at how much better KC got when Ingram showed up. Now, Ingram didn't pile up a lot of stats; but he got a lot of hurries and a lot of speeding the QB's clock up because of his bull rush. And that's all Ingram does, really-it's a straight up bull rush. Punch that OT under the shoulder pads and drive him backward.

Now imagine Ingram at 20 pounds heavier, ten years younger, and even stronger. THAT'S Karlaftis.

And at #30, that's a great pick.

[O.city]

Strength guys are fine. You're gonna need speed around these types of guys at some point, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

[smithandrew051]

A lot of his measurables are pretty close to Trey Hendrickson when he was drafted.

He might not be a bad comp. Almost the exact same size and arm length.

Similar speed and strength scores. Hopefully, thats the kind of player we drafted.

[Chief3188]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I mean, they can get better but they still have to have the physical ability and that's just not something you're going to see coming from Karlaftis, but there are plenty of other ways for him to win.

I think if you want a crash course on how I forsee Karlaftis winning, here's a video of Cam Jordan from a few years back. Now, Karlaftis is smaller than Jordan at this point but the wins are probably going to come similarly...

That's a good comparison. Hopefully an NFL conditioning program can get the best out of him as I imagine from what the scouts say, he will be a tremendously hard worker.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I think we're comparing apples to oranges here, and some are hyper focused on one specific attribute instead of looking at the player as a whole.

Is Karlaftis as 'bendy' as Derrick Thomas? Well, of course not. Hardly anyone is.

Comparing what is a big, strong, bull rusher type DE to speed rushers is apples to oranges.

You may PREFER the speed rushers, and you probably wished we'd drafted one of those, and that's totally a legit opinion.

but discounting what the kid IS because he's not what you WANTED is not fair.

This kid is 21. He's got room to physically grow, he's got loads of talent, and will continue to refine. He's got the WANT TO.

People want to knock the athleticism, and he had a damned 9.28 RAS score. I mean what the ****?

His arms are too short, but they're longer than Hutchinson's. Did anyone complain about Hutchinsons' arm length?

He's going to be more of a big, stout, bull rush type guy. He's not going to blow past tackles and bend out around them.

yeah, most of your record setting type DE's do that. Lots of your consistent, pain the ass DE's are of a different sort-THIS sort.

He's got heavy hands, he's strong as an ox, and he's going to shove OT's right into the QB's lap. There's plenty of video of him doing exactly that. He's going to line up right next to Chris Jones. Who you gonna double?

He's a different type of edge than say, an Ebiketie, or what have you. He's not a Derrick Thomas type. He's not a glorified OLB/rushbacker. He's a DEFENSIVE END. He's not going to bend out around and try to beat OT's on an arc. He's going to punch them in the mouth and go through them.

If you're expecting this kid to put up 15 sacks a year, yeah, you're probably going to be disappointed. That rare air is usually reserved for the speed demon rushers. He ain't that guy. But you're not getting that guy at 30.

But there's plenty of room for a 6-8 sack guys, that's relentless, that stuff the run, that shove OT's back and into the QB's face. He's THAT kind of DE.

Look at how much better KC got when Ingram showed up. Now, Ingram didn't pile up a lot of stats; but he got a lot of hurries and a lot of speeding the QB's clock up because of his bull rush. And that's all Ingram does, really-it's a straight up bull rush. Punch that OT under the shoulder pads and drive him backward.

Now imagine Ingram at 20 pounds heavier, ten years younger, and even stronger. THAT'S Karlaftis.

And at #30, that's a great pick.

The best pass-rusher in the NFL is Aaron Donald and he is so effective because he uses power and technique to run through people.

Not saying Karlaftis is Donald but agree it is stupid to discount how he wins as a way to get to the QB.

The 1st round is littered with guys that could run around the edge who did nothing in the NFL.