From playing video games all day to dreaming of getting featured in one someday, Elijah Griffin can be a big gun for Georgia. The 247Sports Composite ratings and The On3 Industry Ranking have put Griffin as the nation’s top-ranking DL and No. 3 overall prospect for 2025. The five-star DL from Savannah Christian School, projected to be picked by Georgia by all three of the 247Sports crystal balls, had received an offer from the university when he was just in the eighth grade.

Everyone seems to be seeking the superstar prospect, as Elijah already has offers from many Power 5 schools, including Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson, South Carolina, and USC. But to young Elijah, his mamma is his biggest superstar!

Elijah is doing this for his mother

Not much is known about Elijah’s father, but the 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive lineman did not always want to be a football player. As a young boy, he wanted to play video games all day. However, Elijah is no longer the same. For him, the sky’s the limit. Elijah’s mother, Ashley, is the biggest inspiration. 

“My Mom she worked her butt off,” he said in an interview. “She was working two jobs. Stuff like that. Just hustling for us. You know? Me and my little sis.”

Elijah did not want to see her mother “hustling” two jobs and working so hard all her life. The star DL wants his mom to take a break now and relax. But his mother’s hustle also inspired Griffin to work harder. He stopped spending his time playing video games all day and started working hard. 

Grandfather Ulysses played a key role in preparing him for football. Ulysses, a college wrestler, trained him to use his stature and strength to his advantage. Elijah, being the obedient and dedicated student he is, paid close attention to his coaches and trainers and kept improving.  

Savannah Christian coach Baker Woodward only has promising things to say about his favorite student. 

“He’s like a model Raider,” Woodward praised. “Every question you have, and I bet you have interviewed him by now, is a ‘yes sir’ or a ‘no sir’ and he gets it done in the classroom. But what’s so special about him is you have a guy that’s 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds and he moves and is as agile as a skill player. That makes him really special on top of the kind of kid he is, too.”

Elijah’s grandma Edna is also very dear to Elijah and has been a very important woman in his life. The grandma-grandson duo even visited Georgia, and Elijah was glad his grandma had a wonderful time interacting with the coaching staff there during the trip. 

Elijah’s plans and goals

Elijah is a terrific player whose rare physical traits, combined with his natural feel for the position, set him apart from the rest of the 2025 recruiting class. With 69 tackles and 3.5 sacks at Savannah, Griffin already has a very promising future if he keeps honing his abilities.

All the five-star DL Elijah Griffin needs is a program that will bring out his best. “What I’m looking for in a school is development,” Griffin said.

“Maximizing my game. My goal is to be in the NFL. Honestly. I just want a school that is going to be there and to help me do that. The best way to do that is to figure out the coaches who are going to do that for me. Who’s the best at it? Developing players. Just looking at that and then the business management. That’s something I want to have a degree in,” he added.