Devy Digest: Joseph Griffin Jr

Photo courtesy of @Joegogetit2

Stats: Courtesy of ESPN

Who is Joseph Griffin Jr?

Griffin attended Springfield Central in Massachusetts where he was a dual sport athlete, playing football and basketball. Griffin was the #1 ranked wide receiver in the state and a 4* in the composites. For his high school career, he finished with 102 catches for 1913 yards and 22 touchdowns. Griffin chose Boston College over Duke, Virginia, Wake Forest and Notre Dame. Griffin had a slow start as a Freshman at Boston College, but when Emmett Morehead took over at quarterback, he and Griffin clicked. Griffin was targeted 27 times in the last 5 games, including 5 catches for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns against Duke. A moment I enjoyed was against North Carolina State, where Griffin helped his team win the game with a last second touchdown in a goal to go situation. Targets are earned, and he was the first option on that play to win the game.

Advance Metrics courtesy of Campus 2 Canton

The metric I wanted to showcase was his touchdown prowess. In 18 catches as a true Freshman, he had 5 touchdowns. Players I chose were from his same Freshman class and some draft eligible 2024 wide receivers.

2023 Outlook

Boston College returns with Morehead as their starting quarterback, Griffin should be in line for a lion's share of targets vacated by Zay Flowers. Boston College did go in the portal to grab Ryan O'Keefe, who projects as a slot guy. By no means is O'Keefe the same kind of athlete Flowers was. Behind those two, the receiving room is lacking known quality. Griffin has the prototypical size we like at 6'4 200lbs and an easy target for his quarterback, especially in the green zone. 

Strengths

Griffin has great hands. Strong at the catch point, with reliable soft hands. He had zero drops as a freshman and he uses his body to box out defenders. Griffin has a large catch radius to help his quarterback. For his size, Griffin has a nice release point with quick feet to get off the line of scrimmage and not get held up by the opposing cornerback. Griffin has a good combination of speed and physicality with room to get stronger, and be able to refine his route running as he comes in as a true Sophomore. He's shown rapport with his quarterback in a handful of games last year, we now get a full season to see what they can do. 

Improvements/Concerns

Griffin wins with his size, we would like to see more refinement and creating separation. While watching the tape, he had some off target throws that caused him to fight for a jump ball, at other times he just used his size to win. He won't ever manipulate defenders with his route running being 6'4" 200lbs, but we would like to see more nuance in his game. He'll be a full time starter this year and we'll find out more answers.

Devy Value

He is a buy at cost right now, in supplemental drafts, he's going towards the end and in startups, I secured him at the 24.04 in a C2C league. He has great upside in the redzone and in key situations, we have already seen his quarterback go his way. If you play in a C2C league, at worse he'll be a good CFF play at his cost.

NFL Outlook

I can see him get day 2 draft capital as his ceiling if he continues to progress and we're projecting at the very least, two more seasons. He has the size and hands we want and he just needs to continue and develop.