The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2025 season in 77 days against Portland State. As we continue counting down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 77 - redshirt sophomore left tackle Jake Griffin.
Jake Griffin's background
Hailing from Mesa, Arizona, Jake Griffin was a 247 Sports low three-star prospect (82 overall) and the No. 41 overall prospect in the state in the class of 2020. His offer list was sparse coming of high school but he did get interest from a few Power Five schools (at the time, including the PAC-12) and took official visits to Arizona, Oregon State, and Washington State before committing to BYU.
He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Durban, South Africa then began his freshman campaign for the Cougars in 2023. Including a redshirt season, this will be his third year with the program.
Now entering his redshirt sophomore season, the 6-foot-5, 300 pounder has yet to see the field in game action for the Cougars.
Jake Griffin inks his NLI to play at BYU. The 6’6 265 @RedMtnFootball two-way standout played tremendously well this past fall. He’s a big reason why that line was dominate on both sides of the football. Congrats @Jakegriffin54!! @AZHSFB pic.twitter.com/wR893XHfmc
— Cody Cameron (@CodyTCameron) February 5, 2020
Griffin's potential impact in 2025
While Griffin hasn't cracked BYU's depth chart yet, this could be the season he accomplishes that feat. Offensive Coordinator Aaron Roderick is on the record stating Isaiah Jatta will start at left tackle. Right tackle still seems to be a toss-up between Austin Leausa and Andrew Gentry, and perhaps the loser of that position battle also becomes the default LT2.
That said, the website Ourlads projects Jake Griffin as the backup left tackle behind Jatta, but other sites like KSL Sports don't even list Griffin on their projected depth chart. Griffin may be battling the No. 2 between Leausa and Griffin, but will also need to hold off talented, highly-touted freshman Ethan Thomason who has returned from a mission.
A successful redshirt sophomore season for Jake Griffin could mean sliding into the two-deep roster at some point if there are injuries or if it takes Ethan Thomason a little time to get back into playing shape after returning home from his mission.
The opportunity to rise up the depth chart on the offensive line exists this year, and Jake Griffin could be a player to watch in filling that void.