How George Karlaftis impressed Steve Spagnuolo, Kansas City Chiefs in pre-draft process
On NFL Draft night, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told 30th overall pick George Karlaftis that the Purdue defensive end was by far “my top guy.”
What impressed Spagnuolo so much was a pre-draft Zoom meeting with Karlaftis.
Karlaftis said he watched a lot of film with the Kansas City defensive staff on the call, including defensive line coach Joe Cullen.
“I think that they were trying to test my football knowledge,” Karlaftis said Tuesday, “and I showed them that I knew what I’m talking about, more or less … I feel like it was a great connection.”
Cullen asked most of the questions in the pre-draft call, Spagnuolo said, and the defensive coordinator came away impressed with Karlaftis’ body language.
“I’m observing, I’m watching and I’m looking at the faces on those Zoom calls,” Spanguolo said. “This guy was just so into what we were talking about. He didn’t want to get off the Zoom call. He wanted more questions. He just looked real hungry to me, a guy that is passionate about the game of football. I think that’s exactly what we got.”
The 6-foot-4-inch, 275-pound defensive end, who told reporters Tuesday he had slimmed down 10-15 pounds during the pre-draft process, is known for his effort level.
Head coach Andy Reid said Karlaftis’ motor jumped out to him during rookie minicamp so much so that “we’ve gotta slow him down.” Karlaftis said Tuesday that Cullen told him to “tone down.”
But it was Karlaftis’ relentless nature that led him to being productive at Purdue even with opposing offenses constantly throwing double teams at the edge rusher.
With the Chiefs, where Karlaftis will fill in the role left by departing pass rusher Melvin Ingram, he will have the luxury of playing next to Chris Jones and Frank Clark.
Jones reached out to Karlaftis on social media the day after the draft, and the rookie said he’s been trying to learn as much as possible from the defensive tackle.
“I’m excited,” Karlaftis said on draft night. “They have a really good pass rusher on the other side and a really good defensive tackle, so no more double teams.”
He just might not be as excited as Spagnuolo.
“There was something about him that I said, ‘Boy, if we could get this kind of person in here, I think that would be an extra bonus,’ in addition to the fact that he was a really good football player,” Spagnuolo said.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 3:10 PM with the headline "How George Karlaftis impressed Steve Spagnuolo, Kansas City Chiefs in pre-draft process."