George Karlaftis making a big name for himself in Kansas City Chiefs defense

Add as preferred source on Google

Throughout the early portion of the 2023 NFL season, the Chiefs’ defense has kept this team afloat.

George Karlaftis has played a big part in that success in what promises to be a big year for the 22-year-old.

Heading into their Thursday Night Football clash with Denver, the Chiefs defensive end had recorded 20 pressures, putting him on pace for 85 on the year.

That would nearly double his numbers from his rookie campaign when the Greek-born player had 47.

On a team that boasts a consistent pass rusher like Chris Jones and amid all of the rumours that Frank Clark may return, Karlaftis has been one of the many shining lights on this defense.

Jones is the standout on the team with eight sacks and has been a monster along the line of scrimmage, however, Karlaftis deserves some credit for how successful this defense has been at getting to the quarterback.

Making an impact

Kansas City have registered 17 sacks after five games, and the amount of attention on Karlaftis seems to have taken some heat off Jones.

During the 2022 regular season, Karlaftis registered six quarterback sacks and already has 2.5 in 2023, third on the team behind Mike Danna (3.5) and Jones (5.5).

In 17 games last season, he registered 18 solo tackles and is already halfway towards that total with 11 games to go.

A first-round selection at the 2022 NFL Draft, he came in with plenty of expectations, and even though his sack numbers probably don’t jump off the charts right now, Andy Reid has to be happy with what he’s contributed.

Named to the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team in 2022: there has been a lot on his plate to take his game to the next level, and the stats suggest he’s doing that and more.

His 18 total tackles are also more than half of what he achieved during his rookie campaign (36), while he’s got two tackles for losses, a third of what he had in total last year (eight).

Plenty of players struggle in their second NFL seasons as expectations rise and with more pressure on their shoulders to exceed what they could do in year one.

Karlaftis has quietly gone about his business and been able to consistently contribute defensively for KC

Coming out of college, he had the reputation of being a power player with concern that he may be too rigid to make plays along the edge.

Instead, he has shown us strength and flexibility to crush the pocket while he has added the ability to speed rush as well.

Not only are his numbers trending in the right direction, but his footballing IQ seems to have significantly improved.

He has done well to read trick plays, such as bootlegs and end-arounds, with eight tackles for losses to this point of the campaign.

Throughout the year, he has done an excellent job of holding his ground, staying on the quarterback and forcing plenty of throwaways.

From where he was a year ago until now, Karlaftis has been a big asset defensively, and it seems like the sky is the limit for him.