George Karlaftis

Context

Plays mostly 7 technique but also 9 and 5 too; plays standing up and with hand in the dirt. He isn’t always the primary edge-setter when on the edge, lots of different responsibilities. Chipped a lot as the primary defender to worry about.

Pass Rush

His upfield burst is only adequate. There is some vertical explosion to him but he doesn’t read run/pass well and his take-off is inconsistent due to his processing – he only gets off the ball well in obvious passing situations. He has a good rush plan and knows how he wins. On outside moves he will use a two hand or one hand swipe, that’s well-timed to clear his hands. He has an effective long-arm move and bull-rush to come through his man. He converts speed to power with authority, getting his hands placed effectively to do so. He can also quickly take advantage of poor hand placement to win with lateral quickness and club-swim inside or use a spin move. All of these moves are deployed effectively on a snap-to-snap basis, taking what the Offensive Linemen gives him, he’s particularly effective at taking advantage of poor half-man relationships and a less than solid post-foot.

If you can land an outside strike on him as an OL you can shut him down if you have good latch strength as his club is not particularly effective. If he misses with his swipe moves, and the OL works well with independent hands, they can use their inside hand to steer him and trace the hoop to run him past the QB. OL that have better play strength, who move well and can build their house at their set-point as well as being good processors can shut him down too. He has excellent cornering ability, able to stay low and maintain leverage, while using his hands well to keep himself clean as he bends the edge. He can also close quickly on the QB. He’s physically tough and competitive, he has the resilience to play on the defensive line and engage in contact on every snap, high motor guy.

Vs Run

He doesn’t take-off consistently against the run also, for the same reasons already described. His run responsibilities varied, but when asked to genuinely set the edge, he plays with discipline and maintains gap integrity. However, on all blocks, when he’s play-side, he won’t disengage and tackle the runner in his gap, only against OL with lesser play strength or TEs.

When he has to travel further to engage the OL, either from the 7 or 5 tech slanting inside against the Guard or going against an OT from the 9 tech, his hand placement is poor. He also barrels into the blocker and doesn’t lock out to gain leverage. It means he plays with little play strength and doesn’t leverage his gap. He also struggles to diagnose blocks, especially down blocks and can be flattened inside. Vs reach blocks when he’s backside, he doesn’t fit his hands/pads on the run effectively and loses leverage.

SUMMARY
Nice arsenal of rush moves that he deploys well snap to snap. Corners/closes on QB. OL with better technique, play strength can shut him down. Doesn’t play the run effectively

PRODUCTION
JR: 5 Sacks, 14 QB Hits, 34 Total Tackles, 2 FF
FR: 8 Sacks, 18 QB Hits, 48 Total Tackles, 1 FF, 1 Batted Ball, 1 INT
INJURY: Lower left leg inj. and Covid – missed 3 games (SO)

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 3
Intelligence 2
Versatility 1
Grit 4
Scheme 1