I think all nearly all TEs are a compromise and you are better off having a specialist at either receiving or blocking. There is one that comes along every few years who is talented enough to create a real matchup advantage (for example, an elite TE who runs and catches as well as a top WR, but forces a defense to adjust because he's too fast for a LB and too big for a DB).
247 has Karhoff rated as the #19 TE in the country. Some places have him higher so I fair to make the argument he's better than that, but IMO he's the classic TE tweener. He’s not fast enough to be a Top 5 WR-hybrid, and he’s not big enough to be a Top 5 blocker.
I think good TEs (don’t have to be close to elite ) can be X factors in high school football because in HS there will be a lot of mismatches. A kinda fast tall TE makes life tough on a DC who might be lucky to have a couple of d3 level players on his roster. But at the P4 level? Defenses are too good for tweener TEs.
That said- full disclosure I don’t know much about Karhoff other than what ChatGPT tells me. Never watched his film. And from what I read, Alex Bauman played better competition and had considerably better stats in HS than Karhoff. Has Bauman really elevated the team? Also, wouldn’t be surprised if a team wants Karhoff as a DE instead of a TE. He does offer player flexibility and I am not going to boo if Cristobal gets him, but IMO he is not a critical player for this class.
