Getty George Karlaftis celebrates.
Edge-rushers are becoming favorites among mock draft writers attempting to predict who the Atlanta Falcons will select with the eighth-overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
The latest edge defender touted for the NFC South franchise is a highly productive defensive end who developed a niche for getting into the backfield during his collegiate career. He’s been chosen by a leading analytics site to take some heat off of Falcons’ defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.
That combination could fix a tepid pass rush that recorded just 18 sacks this season, the lowest tally in the NFL.
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Durable DE Named Obvious ‘Upgrade’ for Falcons
Purdue’s George Karlaftis doesn’t have the kind of gaudy sack numbers Falcons might be hoping to see from a projected first-round pick. He logged just 4.5 sacks during his final season with the Boilermakers.
Yet, that hasn’t deterred Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus from sending Karlaftis to Atlanta in his latest mock draft: “Karlaftis is an ultra-durable, big-bodied defensive lineman who has some real versatility to upgrade a defensive line that has been Grady Jarrett and little else for too long. He generated at least 50 pressures in each of his two full seasons of play.”
There’s some good reasoning here, even though Karlaftis hardly made his bones crunching quarterbacks last year. The half-century of pressures in each of the last two seasons form a good indicator of a player who at least knows how to make life uncomfortable for passers.
Any worry Karlaftis doesn’t know how to finish plays should be offset by his tackles-for-loss numbers. He made 17 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in 2019, two in 2020 and 10 last year, per Sports-Reference.com.
The same source also shows how Karlaftis had 7.5 sacks as a Freshman in 2019, but only two a year later. There’s a disparity in the numbers, but that can be explained by Karlaftis only making three starts during his second season at Purdue.
Injury and the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted his development, according to Pro Football Network’s Oliver Hodgkinson: “He had a personal experience of the issues impacting the world, resulting in him spending a mandated 21 days away from the program. Furthermore, an ankle injury led to more missed game time.”
There are also some concerns about Karlaftis’ ability to consistently win off the edge, although he flashes some potential in this area, judging by these clips from FanSided editor Tommy Jaggi:
Another display of George Karlaftis’s strong hands. Wins instantly with the chop.
Bleacher Report’s Derrik Klassen believes any issues Karlaftis has on the edge are compensated for by how disruptive he is from the interior: “He has the explosion and flexibility for his size to run a tight corner with power, but he doesn’t always stay committed to it, which could be something a good defensive line coach can unlock. Otherwise, Karlaftis already wins as a bull-rush and inside rusher, even against double-teams, with some value to be able to slide inside on clear passing downs.”
The Falcons would have to decide where Karlaftis fits best along their front seven. Would he be an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense coordinator Dean Pees often prefers? Or would Karlaftis play on the front and take blockers away from disruptive nose tackle Jarrett?
Frankly, it shouldn’t matter give how the lines between 3-4 and 4-3 schemes have become blurred in recent years. The Falcons need a pass-rusher who can win from anywhere along the front.
It’s why edge players are becoming such a popular pick for this franchise among mock draft scribes.
Edge-Rushers Beginning to Dominate Mock Drafts for Falcons
It only takes a cursory glance over the latest mock drafts to know where most writers think the Falcons should focus their efforts on Thursday, April 28. It’s all about the pass rush.
At least that’s the case for Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings, who predicts Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson will fall the Falcons’ way at No. 8. Meanwhile, Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports sends Hutchinson’s Wolverines teammate David Ojabo to Atlanta.
Wilson’s colleague at CBS Sports, Josh Edwards, agrees with Monson that Karlaftis is the best option for the Falcons. Then there’s Tab Bamford of Elite Sports NY, who has an interesting take on the same theme by choosing Georgia’s hybrid edge Travon Walker for the Falcons.
Selecting a pass-rusher in the first round makes the most sense for Falcons’ general manager Terry Fontenot. He’s dealing with a tight salary cap situation that won’t allow the Falcons to delve into the edge market before free agency officially opens on Wednesday, March 16.
It makes more sense to dip into a draft class rich in talented edge defenders, many of whom would immediately upgrade the biggest weakness on Atlanta’s defense.