Built From the Inside

A deep dive into Chris Jones and George Karlaftis 2025 season.

Down year for the Chiefs, Mahomes injury late in the season, offense couldn’t find a groove, and the defense couldn’t make up for it. Throughout the turmoil of the season, Chris Jones and George Karlaftis quietly did their thing. Jones only amassed 7 sacks and Karlaftis got 6, but they made bigger impacts than stats say when pass rushing.

Pass rushing for DTs

Since Chris Jones is a DT, he got a lot of opportunities to get 1 on 1s/2 way gos on early downs. For base pass rushes, you play with run responsibilities first and then transition to rushing. There isn’t a matchup that’s set up by the defense, but there is one that comes naturally.

Using an example of an over front, the Edges contain, the NT tries to cover the middle of the pocket and follows the QB, then the 3T gets a 2 way go where he can beat the G inside or outside of him. This happens because usually teams slide their protection to the NT side in case of a blitz from the LB around there.

Base pass rush: Chris jones double swipes on G overset, works inside where RB is, then tosses the G away for QB hit.

For that 3T or whichever DL ends up on that G, he usually has that 2 way go. The biggest thing is that this base pass rush usually happens on early/neutral downs, which is why being useful on those downs is very important for DTs to get more chances to rush. Or being a great enough pass rusher to where teams don’t care about your run defense. With the 2 way go, most DTs who are in these situations are run defenders, so they can choose to push the pocket or contain instead of trying to win, since most of the pass plays in this situation are going to be shorter/quicker.

Now with Chris Jones, he can win QUICKLY, so he chooses to win in these situations.

Base pass rush: 2 way go to win in B or A gap. G oversets, Chris Jones hits side scissors inside for a clean win

Then when you get to passing downs… things get tougher for DTs. This is where defenses can attack protections, but the biggest issues with setting up matchups inside is the spacing issue. You have to create space by pulling the T and C away from the G to give space for that 1 on 1 matchup for the DT. It’s why usually Edges get 2 way gos, because you just have to pull away the G at most and there is already a lot of space to attack outside of the OT.

With Chris Jones the issue is more profound because teams will try to slide his way or find ways to slow him down. Teams have to do even more to free up Jones, such as overloading the Line Of Scrimmage or blitzing/spying a LB. This takes away resources from coverage or slows them down to their spots. Another reason why we only have a few DTs who teams set up matchups for compared to Edges where there are like 20+ of them.

Reading, Not Just for Nerds

In pass rushes, generally one player gets a two way go where they can win without contain responsibilities, just have to worry about getting to the QB. There is reading the rushes and protections involved. If you are the DT next to the edge with the 2 way go, you have to read his rush and the QB to make sure the QB doesn’t escape the pocket. If the edge works inside, you have to work back outside. If the edge works outside hard, you have to occupy the space he creates. If the DT gets the 2 way go set up, the NT and Edge his side read the DT’s rush. They occupy any space he leaves and follow the QB’s movements.

A lot of the rushes included reading out the protections. There is one where both DTs pinch inside, and whoever the C works to as a part of the slide side becomes a contain player, whereas when the C works away from you, that DT becomes the one that tries to win his rush over the G.

Chris Jones Gets his eyes on the G, engages with them then looks at QB. Sees he is on the man side so hits a club and crossface to win. 3 man rush where he looked to initially contain but transitioned to winning based off of G set and protection.

There was some talk of Chris Jones not trying, but I think it’s more just him reading out plays and protections. He constantly is scanning the OL and seeing what they do, especially on early downs. Can see him on a few reps get his eyes to the Edge his side and read his rush or get his eyes on the QB when he is containing, to try to get in the QB’s vision or bat the pass down. He knows when it’s best to transition from reading to winning, like if the slide away and he is on the man side. He’ll step inside usually with a double swipe and react to the G.

Chris Jones takes a jab step inside, sees he is on the man side of the protection, so works back outside with a club and rip for win

5 man rush, using the LB to hold the C from immediately helping on the slide side and George K working upfield to create space for Chris Jones vs G matchup. George K reads Jones rush, he gets very vertical, so George works back inside to the vacated space

George Karlaftis and the other DL are also all constantly reading the protections and others rushes. A lot of the pass rush plan stems from Chris Jones. Read and react to what he does. Makes sense because he is an elite player and one you should build a pass rush around. But with a lot of reading and reacting to Chris Jones and the protection…. it hurts the advanced stats of the non Chris Jones DL.

The pass rush plan boils down to, Chris Jones do your thing, everyone else react to what he does. Then if they need a changeup they can set up matchups for George K, especially against OTs who are weak to power. Since setting up Jones or George K leads to pressure/wins that isn’t that quick, when they need a quick win/pressure, that’s where blitzes come from. They use a lot of DB blitzes for this reason.

How did Chris Jones and George K perform this season? We’ll find out soon enough!

George of the Kungle

Winning 36.6% win rate, 18.9% of snaps

Stunts 8.6% win rate, 11% snaps

Contain 4.5% win rate 70.1% of snaps

The stats and roles tell a lot. He was asked to contain a lot, mainly for Chris Jones or blitzes. Didn’t stunt often. He was given opportunities to win at a rate that so far matches up with low end Edge 1s or high end secondary options, and when he was asked to win…. he won at a fairly high rate.

This is why he got paid the big bucks. He was a Strong side who did early down stuff while being a legit contain player. And then when you need him to win matchups or rushes, he can deliver pretty consistently.

His pass rush comes from his Stab move. He contains with his stab move to create separation from the OT and can get eyes on the QB. A lot of reps look like he isn’t trying to win, and it is because he is containing first. He can win late, which is something he is good at but not counted in my charting. Because he has legit power and it’s a threat, he uses that power threat to open up inside or outside moves. OTs will anchor down early and he can use a Stab-Club or Side Scissors move to knock hands away and win off the edge. Or he can use that stab move to push OTs away and work inside or use a spin move.

Side scissors on OT jump setting, gets to where QB is but contain issues by 99

Using power to demolish Marcus Mbow

Attack vertically with a club and rip, Anton Harrison anchors down early from power threat, hits a spin move inside for clean win

Then attacks vertically again, fakes a club and rip move, Anton anchors down and George K uses a HUMP MOVE to get em off balance and TOSSES EM TO THE QB!!!

More examples of George K using power to win

Fakes a stab move and then dips or uses a double swipe to beat OTs who jump/quick set to try to stop him from using power.

Overall, George is a power rusher who can use that power to open up ways to win inside or outside of OTs. He is a very valuable player to the Chiefs even if the stats don’t show it. And he is very important to Chris Jones.

Stone Cold Chris Jones

Winning 41.3% win rate, 37.3% of snaps

Stunts 11.4% win rate, 13.6% of snaps

Containing 1.9% win rate, 49.1% of snaps

That’ll do CJ. He was asked to win on over a third of his snaps and won at a very high clip. The contain rates are also very low. And when trying to win off the edge he won 33.3% of the time (8/24 reps).

This was my first time charting DTs and with what i said above about reading the protections and QB, Chris Jones was annoying to chart. Because he read out plays a lot, his choices on whether he contained or tried to win wasn’t immediate. If it was a base pass rush and he had a 2 way go, his rush depended on if he was on the slide side or man side of the protection. If he was on the man side he would read the tackles set or the QB before deciding if he had time to win or just contained. While making this decision he would place his hands on the G’s chestplate and push/pull them, or swipe their hands when they anchored down or double punched.

This was all a part of what he read and though just on base pass rushes. There were a lot of different tempos in rushes that could change on a whim. A contain rep or 2 way go could start the same in the first 2 seconds.

Hits a Side scissors and works inside for QB hit.

Jones shoots hands to read the protection and QB on the blitz. G lunges too much on the man side so Jone transitions to a club and swim for QB hit

Destroys JPJ with a forklift. Gets him off balanced and is able to push em into the qb

Vs an all pro G!!! Takes a jab step to slow his feet on the punch, then hits em with a double swipe for a clean win

Jones takes a jab step inside as Quinn oversets. Quinn shifts weight back inside and Jones hits a club and crossface outside for a dominant win.

Now a compilation of Chris Jones beating oversetting Gs inside.

Now some reps of Chris Jones winning off the Edge

Overall, what makes Chris Jones a deadly pass rusher is that he has the best handfighting in the league, and maybe of all time. His move choices, timing, setups, technique, reaction, and just the ability to use moves to open up other moves is Elite. His athleticism has dipped a bit, but on the interior, handfighting matters a lot compared to Edge where it is very traits based. He forces mistakes from OL. They are too scared to get beat in certain ways that he beats you in a different way. He’ll open up the outside shoulders of Gs with his jab steps and win outside. Then Gs will overset and lunge, so he’ll work inside. He makes Gs overthink so often.

The main concern is his traits not being as elite as they have been. Can see a dropoff in his burst when chasing QBs, and his lower body doesn’t look as flexible and fluid, which hurts turning the short corner when OL try to recover against him. But even so, with his skillset it would take a massive dropoff athletically for him to fall out of the top DT tier.

Future of the Tribe

Originally, I started this before the draft, but after, they took Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas. Woods is an athletic DT who fits the scheme. He has the most potential to be the heir apparent to Jones. R is a player who fits the Chiefs playstyle but is different from their normal body type. He has a similar pass rush plan to George K, using a lot of Stab moves and threatening OTs with speed to power instead of pure power. He is very small and light from their normal Edge type.

With Jones getting older, it will be interesting to see how they try to replace him. Will Woods become the next guy? Will they have their pass rush be built around an Edge next? And when do they try to start getting the next guy.

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Anyways thank you for reading this far. This was a fun project to chart a DT.