Landry-Walker’s Griffin a true ‘diamond in the rough’
One of the most underrated players in Louisiana’s 2019 class resides in New Orleans, a part of the state where its pretty hard to overlook or ‘miss’ on talent. But somehow, Dywan Griffin has slipped under the radar.
The Landry-Walker senior is the younger brother of former Edna Karr standout Devonte “Speedy” Noil. Like his older brother, he is a ‘speedy’, quick, shifty wide receiver with great footwork and the ability to create a lot of space for himself: whether it be while running his routes or after the football is in his hands. The result is typically the same: completely losing defenders and/or making them miss tackles. He’s great at catching the ball at its highest point and once the ball is in his hands, he is a YAC machine.
Although Griffin is a senior, 2018 was his first year playing football at the high school level, as he is also a basketball standout.
“I just started playing football again for the first time since my 8th grade year. One of the guys I grew up watching and playing with is (current Mississippi State freshman WR) Devonta “Whop” Jason. Just seeing how he handled things on the field, I always felt like I could do similar things as he did if I ever got back out there (on the field).”
Him being reintroduced to the gridiron hasn’t stopped him from making the most of his opportunity. He finished the season with 42 receptions, 931 yards with 11 touchdowns. These stats were good enough to earn Griffin 1st team all-district 8-5A honors.
While those stats are impressive in itself, what is more remarkable is some of the competition he faced along the way. Griffin went up against some of the top DBs in Louisiana’s 2019 class: University of Florida commit Chester Kimbrough, Mississippi State commit Greg Brooks, and SMU pledge Donald Clay.
Griffin also contributed to his team in other ways. As a starting cornerback, he tallied 2 interceptions. On special teams returned 2 punts for touchdowns and returned a kickoff for a score in a 1st round playoff win over Barbe.
“(I feel) I can do anything if I go hard on every play. If I apply pressure every play on the guy in front of me, that gives me a good advantage on the defender. I just love making plays.”
In his short time playing football, many schools have already noticed Griffin’s undeniable talent. So far, he has already racked up offers from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Southern University, Prairie View A&M, Southeastern Louisiana (who also offered him a basketball scholarship) and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Because he is both a football and basketball prospect, Griffin admits that playing both sports at the next level is something that does interest him. He does have basketball offers from Southern Mississippi, Southeastern, Nicholls State, Texas State and Coastal Carolina.
“Some of the lower level schools have asked me if playing both sports in college is something I want to do. Although I would love to, I also dont mind focusing on just football if asked to.”
In addition to the list of offers he already has, a host of other schools have been showing interest in the 6’1, 185 lb WR: in-state power LSU, Tennessee, Louisiana-Lafayette, Virginia, New Mexico and Ball State. Griffin is planning a visit to UTSA next month.
“So far, that’s the only visit I have set up. I’m going up there in December.”With all that he has going on, Griffin doesn’t want to rush to make a decision. “I’ll most likely wait until the February signing period to make my decision.”