Chiefs’ George Karlaftis Raves About Incoming Rookies

The Kansas City Chiefs used their first-round pick at the end of the first round in 2022 to draft George Karlaftis, a defensive end out of Purdue University, and that pick has aged wonderfully for them and their defensive line.

In the three years since he was drafted, he has been a significant part of their Super Bowl-winning defense and has made it harder for other teams to game-plan against them. This is especially the case with Chris Jones occupying their defensive line as well.

Jones has been holding down their defensive line for a while in Kansas City, and Karlaftis is their player with the most potential to have a similar effect for many years. He's entering a contract year next season, and the expectation is that the Chiefs will give him a contract extension.

In 2024, Karlaftis had 35 total tackles and eight sacks. He also defended against five passes and tackled for a loss 6.5 times. His stats took a step back from his 2023 production, but he still projects to be a star for them on the defensive line in 2025.

The Chiefs invested a significant amount of draft picks in their 2025 draft class on their defensive line. Their second-round pick was Omar Norman-Lott; they followed that up with Ashton Gillette, and they also drafted Jeffrey Bassa in the fifth round. Karlaftis sounded off in an interview about how excited he is for them to make the defensive line more competitive.

"I know those guys. They're young, they're eager, they want to learn. They're humble, all things that you want to see in rookies and young guys. And we're gonna help them out. There's gonna be some competition in the defensive line room, I'm sure. It's going to be a lot of fun, iron sharpens iron".

Karlaftis has his starting position locked up, but for all of the incoming rookies, they'll have to work their tails off if they want to make an impact in their rookie year. That applies to all of their rookies, not just those on the defensive side of the ball.

Their emphasis on the defensive line means the Chiefs are preparing for life without Jones, and hopefully, one of these rookies can step up and be a star alongside Karlaftis for many years to come.

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