Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 5 | W 34-32vs USC | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 1 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 25-42@ Washington | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 30-28vs Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#35
Grayson Griffin
Senior defensive back on Illinois's 2025 roster.
5′11″ · 200 lb · Aurora, IL
Returning to Illinois for 2026
The story
4 defensive back on Illinois's 2025 roster.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearGrayson Griffin
Third year in the Illinois secondary, same address the whole way. The receipt on tape: 1 tackles against Washington, Week 9, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- seasons on the roster
- game log
Career arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Illinois
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023–2025
Illinois
Played his entire career under Bret Bielema.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Bret Bielema — 24-14 over that span.
2023Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Balanced
2024Illinois10-3HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road1g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-72g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025
W 34–32
vs USC
1 TOT
Edged out USC at home in a shootout.
With L. Altmyer — 328 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 97.5 · 28 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · H. Beatty — 3 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 100.0
Game log
How he plays
2026 Outlook
Illinois
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Illinois
Returning around him
- 3 Illinois players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -7 net (20 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Illinois · Last season: 9-4 (AP #23) · Talent rank #51 · 2026 recruiting class #24
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology