Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – In his first varsity season Griffin Kraft showed a knack for making plays all over the field while lining up at middle linebacker.

When James Harris took over the Liberty High football program this spring one of the first things the new head coach did on defense was start devising ways to get Kraft all over the field.

“He is a good tackler but he can be really good in coverage as well,” Harris said. “We will try to find some ways to move him around to take advantage of the all things he can do.”

There is a lot that Kraft does well on the football field but there is one thing the Liberty High senior linebacker does better than anything else – make tackles.

Kraft averaged more than 10 tackles per game last season as a junior, racking up a team-high 50.5 stops that included 36 solos.

That production caught the attention of Harris, a former defensive lineman at Coe College and defensive coordinator and head coach at Washington, almost immediately.

“Griff is a stud,” Harris said. “He can move, he can run, he’s physical and he flies to the football and that’s a lot of what you are looking for in a linebacker.”

Growing up the rangy Kraft played primarily in the defensive backfield at safety.

At 6-foot-3, Kraft still looks the part of a defensive back and can run like a safety but make no mistake he hits like a linebacker.

“We have a lot of studs,” senior linebacker Darius Willis-Newell said. “Guys like Griff that want to hit, just have a lot of players that like to be aggressive.”

Kraft spent the offseason bulking up.

He has added more than 20 pounds to his frame and is over 200 pounds something he believes will help with the physical nature of playing close to the line of scrimmage.

The scary part of opposing offenses is even with the addition weight Kraft is faster than a season ago when he averaged 7.2 solo tackles per game and had five tackles for loss.

“I hit the weight room a lot,” Kraft said. “I’ve been working on speed and agility and everything and this is the best I have ever felt.”
With the skill set of a safety and the size of a linebacker Kraft fills the hybrid position that has become so critical in football to near perfection.

The abilities to both play the run and pass make Kraft an ideal player to lineup across the field as the centerpiece of a defense.

“I feel like playing linebacker, close to the line of scrimmage really made me a sound tackler,” Kraft said. “Working on coverage all off season has really helped. “It’s a learning curve for sure. You have to be really versatile to play this type of spot.”
After being the statistical leader of the Lightning defense last season Kraft will be asked to lead in other ways this season.

With a year of experience under his belt Kraft is prepared to handle that leadership role albeit with plenty of help from his senior classmates.

“We didn’t have a very big class last and two of our best seniors got injured and this year having a really good core of guys that we can lean on is really important for us,” Kraft said. “It is really nice knowing that you have a group of 24 seniors that you can lean on that always have your back. It’s nice knowing that you always have guys in the dog house with you.”

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