The Kansas City Chiefs used pick No. 30 to select Purdue EDGE George Karlaftis, which felt like it was a foregone conclusion when they came on the clock.
There wasn’t a lot of public interest shown by Kansas City toward this edge rusher class, but everyone knew the team had to improve that position group. Karlaftis told reporters that he had some conversations with the team and that he knew the Chiefs had spoken to a lot of his coaches.
Karlaftis is a hulking edge rusher at 6-4 and 266 pounds, boasting a motor that doesn’t quit. He’s one of the better run defenders in this class, which Steve Spagnuolo loves. He’s also one of the youngest players in this draft class at just 21 years old, meaning there is a lot of upside for him to grow and improve. He also really only had two seasons under his belt at Purdue after missing half of the 2020 season.
I don’t think that Karlaftis will be beating many offensive tackles in the NFL with speed. He wins with power and effort, which isn’t a bad thing. Kansas City has just lacked that speed element to its pass rush for a while now.
I have no doubt that Karlaftis will play a lot of snaps as a rookie and be impactful, but there will be some growing pains that take place.
