Scouting Report: George Karlaftis III, DE Purdue

If the Cleveland Browns want to attack their defensive end position early, there might not be a player that offers the combination of talent and fit than George Karlaftis III out of Purdue.

Hailing from Athens and aspiring to be a Greek demigod who specializes in disruption, Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis III might as well be Adonis in terms of what teams want defensive linemen to look like. A powerful edge defender that can dominate at the point of attack and lives in the backfield, Karlaftis's best football may still be ahead of him.

Listed Height & Weight

6'4" 275 lbs

Age

21 at time of the NFL Draft (Born April 3rd, 2001)

Production

• 30 solo tackles (5.7%), 17 TFLs (23.6%), 7.5 sacks (32.6%) in 2019
• 3 solo tackles (1%), 2 TFLs (6%), 2 sacks (40%) in 2020
• 31 solo tackles (5.8%), 11.5 TFLs (14.7%), 5 sacks (19.2%) in 2021

© Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Karlaftis is built to win on the edge. He has the size and strength to hold up and even if his length isn't optimal, his speed allows makes it difficult to get outside and reach him. When he effectively unlocks his immense lower body strength and plays with good leverage, he can crumple opposing blockers into the backfield, occasionally right into the lap of the quarterback.

The problem is he's not always right. When wrong, he can end up playing too tall, losing leverage and his power base. At that point, he's left trying to win entirely with his upper body and can find himself stalemated by a single tight end. He needs to be more consistent with his leverage, but also needs to improve his upper body strength.

Karlaftis doesn't possess great hip flexibility. He can bend, will flash the ability to run the arc, something he may continue to unlock at the next level, but he's far more comfortable playing with his hips forward rather than trying to work lateral to blockers. He knows how to get skinny and can slip through creases in the blocking scheme to disrupt the offense.

© Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

His straight line speed is remarkable. At times when he has to pursue and he hits his full stride, it's scary how fast he is and gives him great range when teams try to work horizontally. It also shows up in his closing speed. When he defeats blocks, he's on the ball carrier quickly. In the case of quarterbacks, even athletic ones, it can be challenging to escape him.

As a result, Karlaftis certainly played his fair share with his hand in the dirt as a true edge and lined up over the tackle, but he also played a substantial amount from a two-point stance in a tilt.

With his speed and his willingness to play forward, defeating, he's fast enough to get into backfield and blows up in the play before it begins. It gives him a runway to generate momentum to collide blockers when they do get in his way. Lastly, it also provides him a natural two-way go, depending on which foot he drives off of on the snap.

It's a great way to allow him to dictate the direction he wants his hips to go at the start of the play.

Karlaftis did not play on the interior during his time at Purdue, but he certainly could rush from there in the NFL.

A player who thrives in hand to hand combat, Karlaftis looks to initiate contact while driving his legs. His power game can cause opponents to anchor in anticipation, allowing him to use his hands as levers as he slips into the backfield.

Karlaftis does a nice job using his hands, but he doesn't have heavy hands at this point. His power is still derived from his lower body, which means he still has room to grow in this area of his game.

The biggest frustration with Karlaftis's game is how often he seems to rush the quarterback without a plan. He was so physically dominant that he could get away with it in college, but there are too many plays where he seems like he's trying to react to opponent, slowing him down. Rather than forcing opponents to react to him operating at full capacity and perhaps countering off of it, Karlaftis can look compromised trying to determine his best path forward on the fly. Streamlining that process would do wonders for him in the NFL.

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Appeal for the Cleveland Browns

Karlaftis is a dream fit for the Browns defense under defensive coordinator Joe Woods and the blueprint for how to use him is Jadeveon Clowney. A dominant edge player that can set the edge and collapse the pocket, taking away space for mobile quarterbacks, forcing them to operate in a bottleneck.

That said, Karlaftis can also operate on a defense with Clowney. As Purdue's defense showed, the Browns could put Karlaftis in a tilt on the edge opposite Myles Garrett with Jadeveon Clowney moved inside. Likewise, Karlaftis can rush from the interior increasing the number of options the Browns could deploy him, findind the best matchup.

The Browns spent two years trying to get Clowney on their team and Karlaftis not only possesses many of the qualities they liked about Clowney, but will only be be a 21-year old rookie. He has the capability to play opposite Garrett for years, giving the Browns a remarkably gifted trio with Clowney, but a path forward without him.