Twitter responds to George Karlaftis joining Kansas City Chiefs
By Matt Conner
The selection of George Karlaftis by the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 30 overall brought a lot of interesting responses on Twitter..
No one in Chiefs Kingdom was entirely sure whether or not general manager Brett Veach was going to stick around at the bottom of the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and utilize both of the selections at his disposal or not. Trade rumors had the Kansas City Cheifs potentially moving up for a number of players but it turns out Veach was able to maneuver and still hold onto two firsts, which gave him a chance to use No. 30 overall on edge rusher George Karlaftis.
Karlaftis is a productive pass rusher with a strong body of work during his three years at Purdue. With an NFL-ready motor, strong hands, and good size, Karlaftis brings a lot of power to the Chiefs’ defensive front and can stay on the field on all three downs.
Given the need for an edge rusher, it was heartening to see the Chiefs make an investment in the first round of the draft in order to alleviate some of those concerns. Frank Clark is a presumed starter but K.C. lacked anyone else who made sense on the other side. Now Karlaftis can fill that role and allow rotational players to remain in place.
What did Twitter in general think of the Karlaftis selection?
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
Some analysts didn’t just like it but loved it:
George Karlaftis, awesome pick at #30
— Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) April 29, 2022
You pair him with Chris Jones & Frank Clark and the @Chiefs D-line gets scary.
Stout at the point of attack, and great at throwing blockers off him. I don’t think he’ll ever lead the league in sacks, but he will be a strong edge presence.
George Karlaftis to the #Chiefs at 30. Just feels like it’s gonna work out well. Just a really good football player. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense gets two first-round adds tonight.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 29, 2022
George Karlaftis to Kansas City at No. 30 is my favorite pick of Round 1.
— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) April 29, 2022
Getting a CB, third best one in the draft in Trent McDuffie, and pass rusher in the first is a home run for the #chiefs. George Karlaftis has a great motor. Brett Veach starts off strong.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) April 29, 2022
Purdue EDGE George Karlaftis was the 21st player in the KCSN Draft Guide.
— Kent Swanson (@kent_swanson) April 29, 2022
For some, the selection of Karlaftis comes with some caveats but the sentiment is still good.
George Karlaftis isn’t your typical bendy edge defender, but he’s the definition of a Spags edge rusher. He’s big, strong, solid against the run and wins with effort. He’s an upgrade over what they had opposite Frank last year. It’s a good pick at 30.
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) April 29, 2022
Still some others were down on Karlaftis and now hope to be wrong.
https://twitter.com/InHarmsWay19/status/1519883779170578432
George Karlaftis is a dude many well respected film guys like, analytics loves, and is only 21 years old.
— Conner Christopherson (@Conner_DKC) April 29, 2022
While I’m not hot for him, I’m perfectly fine with him at 30 to see if I’m wrong.
Beyond the selection of Karlaftis, the Chiefs were also able to address needs in the secondary by trading up for Washington Huskies cornerback Trent McDuffie earlier in the first round. The Chiefs sent extra third and fourth-round picks to the New England Patriots in order to land No. 21 overall at which they selected McDuffie.
The Chiefs are scheduled to make eight more selections over the next two days in the 2022 NFL Draft.
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