For Yanni Karlaftis, the future is bright for the Purdue football linebacker.
As a redshirt sophomore last year, Karlaftis appeared in 12 games, starting eight of them. He finished fourth on the defensive side with 55 tackles, 28 of which were solo stops. He also established a career high for tackles in a single game with nine against Ohio State. The Purdue football linebacker also recorded eight stops against both Illinois and Nebraska last year.
Now, he is looking to build off of the success from a season ago and continue to carve out his own path with the Boilermakers.
“Just trying to get better every day,” Karlaftis said as to what his focus has been this spring.
With several new faces on the defensive side, Karlaftis has established himself as a seasoned veteran and admits he feels like he has definitely worked into that position.
“I feel like it has been a long journey I would say. It feels like I am a veteran in comparison to years prior, especially having a lot of new guys. I feel like everyone on the team kind of looks to me. It gives me an opportunity to step up, and I enjoy it,” Karlaftis said.
As he enters year two with Purdue football coach Ryan Walters at the helm, Karlaftis admits he feels more comfortable with the scheme and expectations. He said the focus is on improving certain aspects from last year and with his game.
“As a player, I feel like my strength and speed have been able to develop and my reaction time to how I react to certain plays. That’s stuff I have to improve and only get better at,” Karlaftis said.
As a member of the linebacker room, Karlaftis said everyone in there is pushing each other for greatness.
“The linebacker room is a pretty tight knight group. We all work hard, push each other and everyone is out there to help anyone else. We all work hard and push each other and everyone is out there to help anyone else. We want each other to play to the best of their abilities and not have a dropoff when the next guy is in there. We all know our capabilities and skill. As long as we go out and execute the plan, the sky is the limit,” Karlaftis said.
And, he enters this season with a little extra motivation after watching his brother and former Purdue football standout George, win another Super Bowl earlier this year with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It was cool and a really nice experience. Really happy for George, he deserves it. Big thing is seeing hard work for him pays off. He’s only put in work for the past five, six years and only thing he focuses on is football. When we see him having 10 plus sacks, you’re not really surprised. He’s taught me the hard work will pay off as long as you focus on what you want,” Karlaftis said.
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