Chiefs Select Purdue EDGE George Karlaftis #30
The Chiefs took an EDGE at 30 filling one of their biggest needs
EDGE was one of the biggest needs of the Chiefs headed into the draft. I am surprised by the player for sure at #30 but not the position. With a couple of picks left until Kansas City was on the clock, it looked like the Chiefs could be in a position to get Jermaine Johnson who I thought they may like to help bring pressure with the bend around the edge he has. Karlaftis was very productive with pressure rate in college but doesn’t have the sack numbers that you would hope for.
The Chiefs staying put at 30 and taking him tells me that they didn’t view him as a first-round type of player and that they took the highest player left on their board. As I stated in the McDuffie article the Chiefs only had 16-18 first-round grades on prospects so getting their best-rated EDGE at 30 makes sense.
What does Karlaftis bring to the Chiefs and what can you expect for him stepping into a starting role.
Ryan Tracy’s Athletic Matrix
Quick Note: Pressure rate and Sack % are flipped in this graph.
Taking a look at Ryan Tracy’s matrix shows that the Chiefs picked an EDGE that was very productive in college in tackles for loss at 7th, tackles per game at 5th, pressure rate at 3rd, and his film ranked 7th of all the EDGE’s in this class. Karlaftis doesn’t have the athleticism some of the other EDGE players in the draft do and he lacks the bend to help get to the QB.
The Player Himself
Pro Football Focus
The love for the Chiefs draft is pretty deep coming from PFF. Based on their rankings and what their analysts are saying there are a lot of positives for the Chiefs first two picks.
SIS Football
RAS Score
Athletically Karlaftis is a very good athlete. He isn’t as strong as you would hope for his build but hopefully with time in an NFL strength room that will change. The one knock I keep seeing about him that this doesn’t take into account is he has shorter arms than you would like. This is something to watch as he grows in his NFL career.
The Chiefs
Other Analysts
Financial Terms
Let’s take a look at the contract that Karlaftis is going to sign as a rookie. The numbers may change a little bit with negotiations but this should be a good place to start.
Taking a look at these numbers it’s pretty easy to see why the draft may continue to evolve over the next several seasons. A good to great EDGE is easily going to make more than the total value of Karlaftis’ contract of just over $13 million in one year. Drafting high positional value positions early in the draft significantly helps a team save if they hit on the prospect. Plus first-round picks have an added bonus of having a potential 5th-year option which means the team could keep them for another season for a reduced amount.