Talking George Karlaftis
He may not be as hyped as Kayvon Thibodeaux or Hutchinson, but taking a peek at the Greek shows he's more than a consolation prize.
🗽 Good morning Jets fans. Its Tampa Bay Buccaneer week, which means welcoming Tom Brady back into Metlife, although I'm not sure how much of a welcome it’ll be. Before we get into that I wanted to turn my attention to the Draft.
Made in Greece 🇬🇷
The one thing I’ve learned from my years covering the draft is that anything can happen. So I’m not going to sit here and say the Jets won’t end up with either Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux or Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson. Maybe Detroit fall in love with a Quarterback like Kenny Pickett and the Jaguars decide that drafting Evan Neal to protect Trevor’s blindside is the only logical way to spend their first round pick.
Chances are that if the Jets decide to go edge, then they'll be looking at Edge 3. I can see a world where someone like David Ojabo climbs into that conversation the longer the draft process goes on, but right now the clear 3rd edge in the draft is Purdue’s George Karlaftis.
Quick Hitters 💨
George was born Yorgos in Athens Greece and moved to the States when he was 14.
Karlaftis was named the defensive player of the game in the 2019 U.S Army All American Game.
As a youth, he played Football and Basketball, as well as winning back-to-back state championships as a shot putter. He also appeared for the Greek youth team in water polo.
He finished his high school career with 41 sacks.
247 recruiting had him as a 5-star prospect (4* composite), the 27th best prospect overall, and the #1 prospect in the state of Indiana.
He committed to Purdue over the likes of USC, Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, and Florida.
Yanni Karlaftis, the younger brother of George just committed to Purdue as a 4* linebacker prospect. Keep an eye on him over the coming years as he looks to be a very exciting prospect.
Purdue ⚫🟡
When George originally committed to Purdue over Michigan and Miami in 2017, he said this about his goal for the program:
"It's so exciting and I am looking forward to the future and making the motto here winning ..." Karlaftis said. "People, when they associate Purdue, they don't think winning. I want the culture to change to, yeah, we're going to win."
You could pick that quote up and directly relate it to what’s happening in New York at the moment. The Jets have the joint-worst W/L record with the Giants over the last 5 years, people don’t associate winning with the Jets and that’s something that absolutely has to change.
There aren’t that many true freshman defensive ends who come in and dominate right off the bat, but that’s exactly what George did in 2019. 17 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks in the Big 10 as a freshman is notable, and Karlaftis’s motto of “prove them wrong” tells you everything you need to know about the kind of player he is, the kind of desire and hunger that he plays with.
2020 was a frustrating year for many people, but George’s Sophomore season was cut short due to a positive COVID test. The Big-10 protocols in 2020 were strict, in that anyone who tested positive was required to isolate for 21 days, which took George out of contention for the final three games of the season against Rutgers, Nebraska, and Indiana. He ended up only playing 2 games but still managed to put 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss on tape, so it wasn’t a complete waste.
Karlaftis was eager to make up for lost time in 2021, before the season began Purdue coach Jeff Brohm gave us a little insight into George at the Big 10 media day;
"He's done great things for us from day one and I think he can go out there this year and really prove just how great he can be," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "He's one of our hardest workers on the team. He takes everything extremely seriously and puts in the effort each and every day, well beyond what most guys do."
"He lives in the building trying to improve and get better, getting his game to an elite level," Brohm said. "He wants to study the best defensive ends in the NFL and college. He wants to work on his strength, flexibility and speed at all times, and he’s feeling healthy."
2021 was another outstanding season and while the sack numbers likely weren’t where he wanted them to be, he was a known predator to opposing offensive coordinators and he didn’t have someone like a David Ojabo on the other side to take pressure off. Turn on a Purdue game and you’ll see any defensive coordinator worth his salt was double teaming Karlaftis more often than not. Saying that his advanced numbers (below) represent a truly impressive player worthy of being taken high in the first round. Power, motor and a developing arsenal of pass rush skills is what I’ve seen from George so far, but I also feel as though he’s only scratching the surface of the player he could become.
How does Karlaftis compare with the top two edges in the draft?
*All numbers are courtesy of PFF
Scouting Report
When I look at a prospect, I tend to want to watch 5-6 games over 2 seasons. Just to get a real idea of their talents and consistency. I’ve only seen 3 games of Karlaftis so far, but I knew a guy who’s been high on Karlaftis for a while, so I reached out to my buddy Andrew Golden to get the low down on George. If you don’t follow Andrew on Twitter, then you absolutely should head on over to his profile and rectify that. There are only a handful of guys who I trust 100% with their eye for talent, and he’s certainly one of those.
Karlaftis report
Strengths: Elite athlete- 6’4” 275 frame and moves like he’s 240. First step can be devastating, and he has gotten sacks with that first step alone. Hips are loose and flexible, and he knows how to crank them around at the top of the arc once clear of his blocker.
Power- GK is a speed rusher first, but has all the strength you would expect from a 275 DE. Consistently pushes the pocket with speed to power moves, and has shown some great power counters. Fights through double teams and has a good anchor to avoid getting blown off the ball. Also shows strong hands to stack and shed in the run game, although his technique in that area isn’t the best. He needs to use it more, but he’s got more than enough strength.
Upside- As good as he is, Karlaftis is still raw. He’s got so much room to grow as a player that for me, it’s a positive. He’s already this much of a freak, and he doesn’t fully know what he’s even doing yet. His technique overall is pretty average, but when he learns, watch out.
Motor- He’s All Gas No Brake. Damn near every snap he’s firing off the ball trying to get into the backfield, or throwing his body into someone trying to lay them out.
Versatility- Purdue lined him up all over the front from wide-9 to 3-tech and he did it all well. Was a downright headache for most guards he went against when lined up inside.
Weaknesses:
Football IQ- Being a raw player is a double-edged sword. GK has room to grow, but he can also sometimes get lost. Doesn’t track the ball in the run game as well as I’d like, and can get caught on misdirection. His 100 mph play style is great on pass downs, but can make him undisciplined in other areas. Want to see him play a bit more controlled.
Stubbornness- He’s too committed to the speed rush. He’s so explosive that he knows his best shot to make a play is to go outside, but even when OTs are selling out to stop it, he still tries to out-speed them. Had multiple missed opportunities for sacks if he attacked inside earlier and with more frequency. It’s not a deficiency, he can do it, just needs to do it more.
Length- Karlaftis isn’t the longest guy, and can get locked out against OTs who can out-reach him. That said, he’s great at swatting away hands trying to latch on, so he’s learned to mitigate it somewhat, but if he misses his swipe he can get caught. He’s shown a nasty one-arm stab that I really want to see him develop more of, think it could be his go-to counter move with time.
My out-of-left field comp for Karlaftis is John Abraham. Similar builds, same explosion, same penchant for outside moves. If he masters his counter moves I think he could be just as deadly as Abraham.