'19 IN SDE George Karlaftis (Purdue Verbal)

[Huntr]

Purdue commit George Karlaftis stil considering Michigan

 

[T-Boone]

Now number 9 overall according to 247.

 

[NDIrish88]

Now number 9 overall according to 247.

Total Joke

 

[T-Boone]

Total Joke

But ESPN also have him about NaNa. He must be pretty good.

 

[NDIrish88]

But ESPN also have him about NaNa. He must be pretty good.

Not saying he isn't good. but he is ranked on 247 as the best SDE in the class. Look at the SDE rankings and tell me he is better than Antonio Alfano, Chris Pickering, and Zach Pickens and Chris Hinton. Those guys are better than him.

 

[koonja]

Has offers from Bama, OSU, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, and others.

Continues to move up the rankings. Was "dream team" of the opening. Yet ND remains bullish on him and ND fans have totally bought in.

Huge mistake for a local guy at a position of need

 

[NDMIA]

Has offers from Bama, OSU, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, and others.

Continues to move up the rankings. Was "dream team" of the opening. Yet ND remains bullish on him and ND fans have totally bought in.

Huge mistake for a local guy at a position of need

Every year ND has some guys that people question why ND won’t go after them. This year we have George Karlaftis, TJ Sheffield (some people wanted him) and Jirehl Brock (offered too late) among others. Last year it was Devin O’Rourke and John Waggoner among others. Karla fits us definitely one that doesn’t make sense because even if he’s overrated at number 9, he’s still a top 100 talent that’s in the state of Indiana which makes it inexcusable for ND not to go after him.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Not saying he isn't good. but he is ranked on 247 as the best SDE in the class. Look at the SDE rankings and tell me he is better than Antonio Alfano, Chris Pickering, and Zach Pickens and Chris Hinton. Those guys are better than him.

Kid has a lot of physical and circumstantial similarities to Ryan Kerrigan, and according to Rivals, there were 45 SDEs better than Kerrigan when he was coming out of HS.

We saw how that turned out.

Karlaftis is a very good player, and deserves his ranking IMO, but you can obviously argue for others.

I doubt many people would be upset about his slotting if he had ND VERBAL next to his name lol.

 

[NDIrish88]

Still think DE should try and get him even if his rating is a bit high IMO. Driskel said they didn't know how he'd fit into the defense. Baffles me and I think he is uninformed. If he is right you have to question the staff a little or there is something more there

 

[Irish YJ]

Some people look at ratings. Some people say look at offers instead. He has high ratings. He has offers from most of the typical top 10 programs. However you look at it, the kid is in our back yard and at minimum is top 200 (he's top 100 247C). So all that said, unless there is something "bad" about this kid, you always go after a top home state guy.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Some people look at ratings. Some people say look at offers instead. He has high ratings. He has offers from most of the typical top 10 programs. However you look at it, the kid is in our back yard and at minimum is top 200 (he's top 100 247C). So all that said, unless there is something "bad" about this kid, you always go after a top home state guy.

Haven't followed the Irish's recruitment of this player but there has to be some underlying reason why a top 100-200 player in your back yard isn't being recruited. Sometimes you scratch your head but you just have to resort back to the fact that you trust the coaching staff and their decisions.

 

[Irish YJ]

Haven't followed the Irish's recruitment of this player but there has to be some underlying reason why a top 100-200 player in your back yard isn't being recruited. Sometimes you scratch your head but you just have to resort back to the fact that you trust the coaching staff and their decisions.

So says the guy who gets all the stars . I can see why you trust Saban my friend.

While overall I'm happy with ND recruiting, there's plenty of stuff unworthy of blind trust lol. If we were talking about OL recruiting, I would be more blind, but DE is not one of those places given our history. We've taken plenty of low rated projects and RKGs that didn't do much of anything at a lot of positions. This guy, again, unless there is something "bad", should have been more of a priority. He did get an offer, so I have to imagine not a lot of "bad".

 

[T Town Tommy]

So says the guy who gets all the stars . I can see why you trust Saban my friend.

While overall I'm happy with ND recruiting, there's plenty of stuff unworthy of blind trust lol. If we were talking about OL recruiting, I would be more blind, but DE is not one of those places given our history. We've taken plenty of low rated projects and RKGs that didn't do much of anything at a lot of positions. This guy, again, unless there is something "bad", should have been more of a priority. He did get an offer, so I have to imagine not a lot of "bad".

Yeah... it's a bit puzzling when it comes to ND's success at D Line in relation to recruiting. The fact that it is such an in demand positional group makes it important that you don't miss and/or develop the ones you get. Or the fact that you miss one cycle then hit one cycle, etc. Depth is crucial at this position and one or two below average years recruiting the position can hurt for three to four years. Let's hope that history gets better for you guys.

 

[Irish YJ]

Yeah... it's a bit puzzling when it comes to ND's success at D Line in relation to recruiting. The fact that it is such an in demand positional group makes it important that you don't miss and/or develop the ones you get. Or the fact that you miss one cycle then hit one cycle, etc. Depth is crucial at this position and one or two below average years recruiting the position can hurt for three to four years. Let's hope that history gets better for you guys.

DT has gotten a bit better, but DE still seems all over the place. I don't really have high confidence (in the long term) in either one though. I'm crazy happy about Nana, but we need a few more like him every year. Overall I think the D is progressively taking steps forward. Hopefully continued growth and success will attract an increasing number of top 100/200 DLs. Positive yes, trusting no.

 

[NDMIA]

Yeah... it's a bit puzzling when it comes to ND's success at D Line in relation to recruiting. The fact that it is such an in demand positional group makes it important that you don't miss and/or develop the ones you get. Or the fact that you miss one cycle then hit one cycle, etc. Depth is crucial at this position and one or two below average years recruiting the position can hurt for three to four years. Let's hope that history gets better for you guys.

It's funny to see on the Irish Illustrated's most recent podcast, Pete Sampson responded to a question about why DE recruiting hasn't been amazing at ND compared to TE/OL and he mentioned that you don't see as many 4* DE living in the midwest and/or going to private catholic schools as you do OL or TE which is why from a geography perspective ND is not able to recruit DE as well as SEC schools or schools with those advantages. Ironic that George Karlaftis is a once in a couple years type of DLine prospect in Indiana and ND isn't even speaking to him.

 

[koonja]

Who was the 5 star DE ND passed on last year because they didn't like him? He went to Iowa and his name was AJ Espenesa or something.

Hes a freaking beast. As a true freshman last year, and was dominating OSU's line in that game.

Sweet call ND.

 

[KizerWilhelm]

Who was the 5 star DE ND passed on last year because they didn't like him? He went to Iowa and his name was AJ Espenesa or something.

Hes a freaking beast. As a true freshman last year, and was dominating OSU's line in that game.

Sweet call ND.

I don't think I ever recalled hearing that. He was an Iowa legacy, committed to Iowa early, and never wavered. It's not like OSU and Alabama passed as well, he just really, really liked Iowa.

 

[BeauBenken]

He was recruited. It's just that ND wasn't going to be his top pick most likely so interest faded on both sides. He was projected to go to Miami for the longest time. It was his dream school. Then he picked Purdue, the hometown team, literally. ND could recruit him, but we've always been a bit of a bridesmaid in he recruitment and the staff has already gotten guys at his position that they like.

It's not impossible that they reach out again. It's just unlikely as they don't currently see the need to.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

To those that are baffled we "lost to Purdue", you are aware his high school is less than half a mile to Ross-Ade, correct?

 

[Wingman Ray]

My only thing is that ND, Bama and the other teams mustve seen some red flags on him because for him to commit to Purdue means he didnt have any other commitable offers. We can sit here all day wondering why the staff didnt do this or that but the proof is pretty much in the pudding when a player with this kind of ranking would choose the worst team in the B10 to attend.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

My only thing is that ND, Bama and the other teams mustve seen some red flags on him because for him to commit to Purdue means he didnt have any other commitable offers. We can sit here all day wondering why the staff didnt do this or that but the proof is pretty much in the pudding when a player with this kind of ranking would choose the worst team in the B10 to attend.

Worst team in Big 10?

 

[zelezo vlk]

Yeah c'mon, I mean Rutgers still exists

 

[stlnd01]

My only thing is that ND, Bama and the other teams mustve seen some red flags on him because for him to commit to Purdue means he didnt have any other commitable offers. We can sit here all day wondering why the staff didnt do this or that but the proof is pretty much in the pudding when a player with this kind of ranking would choose the worst team in the B10 to attend.

Or he wanted to stay home. It happens. And it’s not like you can’t get to the NFL from Purdue.

 

[Irish YJ]

My only thing is that ND, Bama and the other teams mustve seen some red flags on him because for him to commit to Purdue means he didnt have any other commitable offers. We can sit here all day wondering why the staff didnt do this or that but the proof is pretty much in the pudding when a player with this kind of ranking would choose the worst team in the B10 to attend.

I think that's a huge assumption with a high probability of being wrong. In the last month, he's visited Florida Gators and the Trojans. He's also trending a bit to scUM. Not commitable?

There are plenty of high ranking kids that pick in state home town schools, and also out of state stud kids picking low tier power 5. It's not the norm, but it does happen. This year you have Briggs picking VA, Beason picking IL, Jackson picking NCSt, and Williams picking IL. Those are all top 100 kids going to lesser schools than they should/could. I'm sure not all have "red flags".

And in terms of PU being the worst, they took a nice step last year to middle of the pack, and will likely take another this year. Brohm will keep them middle of the pack at worst IMO. PS... I hate Purdue, but they are rising.

 

[Irish#1]

My only thing is that ND, Bama and the other teams mustve seen some red flags on him because for him to commit to Purdue means he didnt have any other commitable offers. We can sit here all day wondering why the staff didnt do this or that but the proof is pretty much in the pudding when a player with this kind of ranking would choose the worst team in the B10 to attend.

 

[Irish#1]

PS... I hate Purdue, but they are rising.

You damn Hoosiers.

 

[Irish YJ]

You damn Hoosiers.

Yes sir!!
I'll actually cheer for any Indiana team so long as they are not playing ND or IU. I grew up a PU hater, but can't take away for what Brohm did last year. Bold prediction - PU will knock off either Wiscy or O$U this year.

 

[SoIll]

Who was the 5 star DE ND passed on last year because they didn't like him? He went to Iowa and his name was AJ Espenesa or something.

Hes a freaking beast. As a true freshman last year, and was dominating OSU's line in that game.

Sweet call ND.

ZERO truth to this. He was an Iowa Legacy

 

[BabyIrish]

I’m not sure why we’re blaming ND here. We recruited him early before a lot of other schools, the other schools came calling and he trended toward them. Doesn’t seem like he had any real interest here once the offers rolled in.

 

[Irish YJ]

I’m not sure why we’re blaming ND here. We recruited him early before a lot of other schools, the other schools came calling and he trended toward them. Doesn’t seem like he had any real interest here once the offers rolled in.

IDK about that. We've stayed on a lot of kids who were not all that warm. The fact he was a Miami lean, got a bunch of A1 offers, committed to PU, got more offers, took more visits to UF and USC, and is now trending towards scUM, shows me he's open and has not shut things down.

Unless he said "ND, thank you but, I have zero interest in becoming Irish, and never will", I think you keep things a little warm with him. Or you pop in from time to time with a check in text when you see him being open to other visits and offers.