How Chiefs’ George Karlaftis has worked to improve himself ahead of 2023 NFL season
George Karlaftis says the scale might not tell the complete story.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ second-year defensive end, however, says he’s worked hard the past few months to add strength for the upcoming season.
“I haven’t really gained much weight, in terms of like a number. But I’ve gained a lot of muscle, lost fat, that kind of stuff,” Karlaftis said ahead of Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s charity softball game Friday at Legends Field. “So it’s been good, man.”
Karlaftis, who was listed at 6-foot-4, 263 pounds last season, says the improvement has come after remaining dedicated the last few months. He’s primarily worked out five days a week before taking the weekends off, while also dabbling in Pilates and yoga with some further exploration into additional recovery methods.
He did all this, he says, to “improve and build on what I did last year.”
“Trying to be as complete of a player as possible,” Karlaftis said. “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 also has received guidance from one of the best pass-rushers in team history.
Tamba Hali, who had 89.5 sacks in his 12-year Chiefs career, has joined Karlaftis for workouts to help him improve.
“We work as much as we can. So he’s been a great resource and a great mentor for me,” Karlaftis said. “We work pass rush. We work on my game, man, in any way possible.”
As a rookie last season, Karlaftis’ production increased as the year progressed.
Karlaftis, who turned 22 in April, had only a half-sack in his first 10 games before combining for 5.5 sacks in the final seven weeks of the regular season. He also had consistent production then, posting at least a half-sack in six of the Chiefs’ last seven regular-season contests.
A starter in all 20 games, Karlaftis added a sack in the AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati. He said his extended on-field snaps helped him grow the intellectual part of his game.
“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.”
Overall, Karlaftis described his rookie season with the Chiefs as “awesome.”
“We won the Super Bowl, so can’t wish for more than that, right?” Karlaftis said with a smile. “I had a lot of fun last year. I learned so many things. I had some great mentors. We had some great leaders that I learned a lot from, and I’m going to take that and apply that to the rest of my career.”
The Chiefs likely will expect more of Karlaftis in 2023. They drafted Felix Anudike-Uzomah as an edge rusher in the first round and added inside/outside pass-rusher Charles Omenihu in free agency.
The team, though, still has plenty of lost production to replace. That includes Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap, who combined for 1,289 regular-season snaps in 2022 and are not on this year’s roster; Clark agreed to a deal with the Denver Broncos last week, while Dunlap remains unsigned.
Karlaftis, for his part, says working to gain muscle this offseason was simply about trying to create a better version of himself for 2023.
“Not any secret sauce or anything like that,” Karlaftis said. “Just going back to working hard.”
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
