One of the most exciting things about the Kansas City Chiefs’ selection of Purdue defensive lineman George Karlaftis is how well he played in college after so little football experience. He only started playing in high school — but during his first year on campus as a true college freshman, he erupted with 17 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, earning second-team All-Big 10 honors.
This hot start was noticed by many — including opposing offenses. For the next two seasons, Karlaftis was rarely forgotten in opponent’s game plans. He was frequently double-teamed — and Purdue didn’t have enough talent on the defensive line to force offenses to divert attention from Karlaftis.