As a rookie, George Karlaftis won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs.
The defensive end started all 17 games for Kansas City, recording 6.0 sacks, eight tackles for loss, 11 QB hits, and seven passes defensed. He was on the field for 64 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in the regular season. He then had four total tackles with a sack in the team’s three postseason games.
That’s a productive rookie season. But Karlaftis is looking for more in 2023, saying recently that he wants to “improve and build on what I did last year.”
“Trying to be as complete of a player as possible,” Karlaftis said late last week, via Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star. “Not [have] people saying, ‘Oh, he’s not good enough in the run,’ or, ‘He’s not a good enough pass rusher,’ or anything like that. Just being a complete player.”
Karlaftis has also been working with former Chiefs Edge rusher Tamba Hali throughout the offseason on his technique, with Karlaftis saying, “[H]e’s been a great resource and a great mentor for me.”
While the Chiefs let Frank Clark go in free agency and major 2022 contributor Carlos Dunlap is still a free agent, the club did select defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah with the 31st overall pick of this year’s draft. Karlaftis has been using the experience gained from playing in his rookie year to be in a better spot for the coming season.
“Just to experience every one of those games and go into the offseason — watching film, taking those mental reps in the offseason, then enhancing your physical just builds you up for a bigger and better season,” Karlaftis said. “Anything you can do really to help the team.”
