The NY Giants currently own the No. 5 and No. 8 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, with the fifth pick belonging to the Giants, and the eighth pick belonging to the Chicago Bears. The NY Giants acquired this pick from the Bears in a trade that occurred during the 2021 NFL Draft
All season long the NY Giants pass rush has struggled, ranking 26th in sacks, 28th in QB knockdowns, and 24th in QB hurries, it has become clear throughout the season that they need an upgrade in the pass rush.
A candidate the NY Giants should consider drafting to help bolster the pass rush is George Karlaftis out of Purdue.
Coming in at 6’4, 275 pounds, George Karlaftis has dominated all season, rising up the draft boards to potentially be selected as a top 10 pick.
With Kayvon Thibodeaux and Aidan Hutchinson likely being selected before the NY Giants are on the clock, the next best option is undoubtedly Karlaftis, if the NY Giants truly want to commit to fixing their pass rush issues, it would be in their best interest to draft Karlaftis if he is available.
With that being said, let’s take a deeper dive into NY Giants draft target George Karlaftis:
In 12 games played this season, Karlaftis tallied 34 combined tackles, five sacks, 35 QB hurries, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and 14 QB hits.
While these numbers are not the most eye-popping, watching his film shows just how dominant Karlaftis can be.
One of the biggest reasons for Karlaftis’s lack of insane numbers is the fact that he is often double-teamed. In some of the film, opposing teams would line a tight end on his side just to help the offensive tackle guard Karlaftis, teams have also sent guards to help slow him down.
Karlaftis possesses one of the most ridiculous bursts I have seen off the edge, wreaking havoc on opposing offensive linemen with his combination of speed and power.
A good example of this burst occurs on this play here:
Karlaftis (#5) comes off the edge with a ridiculous burst and shakes his man off to get immense pressure on the quarterback. He came off the line so fast that the offensive lineman could not come close to keeping up, this caused the lineman to trip on his own feet and fall down. This burst is what makes Karlaftis so deadly.
What is arguably Karlaftis’s best trait is his hand placement, technique, and strength. Karlaftis is fantastic at using his hands to shed off opposing offensive linemen.
A good example of this is shown here:
Karlaftis is lined up as a DE and after initially being blocked, he reads where the run is and uses his hands perfectly to rip his blocker off of him, while he does not make the tackle, it is still promising to see.
The combination of George Karlaftis’s burst, strength, and hands, makes him one of the deadliest defenders in all of college football coming off the edge, and when he uses all 3 of these traits properly he is almost impossible to guard.
A couple of great examples of this are shown here:
https://twitter.com/DP_NFL/status/1429071858092158977
Karlaftis is the definition of “stats don’t tell the whole story.” When I first began my deep dive of Karlaftis I was a little confused on how he was so highly regarded due to his lack of insane stats, but after watching his film I am truly amazed at how dominant he can be.
If Karlaftis can use this rare combination of elite strength, speed, and hand usage consistently, he will have a very high chance to become an instant impact player on defense for any team, and with the way the NY Giants have been struggling in the pass rush, Karlaftis just may be the answer to their problems.