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As was the case with Ty Griffin and P.J. Davis, Corey Griffin was a late acquisition -- the result of multiple de-commitments in the 10 days before National Signing Day. The case of Corey is slightly different though, in that he was a UAB commitment who actually flipped to Georgia Tech on Signing Day. (And they say we never win the hat shows...) Corey hails from nearby Tyrone, GA and there attended Sandy Creek High School -- the very same that produced guys like OL Will Adams, S Isaiah Johnson, OL Andrew Gardner, and the legendary WR Calvin Johnson.
Corey is listed at 6'2" and 200 pounds -- pretty ideal size for a safety coming out of high school. His film also shows that he's a fairly athletic player who LOVES to hit people. Corey is pretty similar to P.J. Davis and John Marvin in that it seems that they all lack regard for their personal well-being after the ball is snapped, and will completely throw themselves into anyone that they get the chance to. Corey also shows good instincts for following the play as it develops, and is a good tackler who can get the job done without assistance in the open field -- always good to see from a safety.
Corey's weakness will be in coverage (particularly the deep zone that safeties spend a lot of time in), where he doesn't display big-time ball skills and shows preference towards knocking passes down over trying to catch them and create a turnover. Also, he's much more of a "read and react" player who waits for the play to come to him than an instinctual player who seems to find himself in the right place at the right time. In general, he appears to lack a lot of the "killer instinct" that a true playmaker at safety will display, and that may ultimately be his undoing when it comes to playing safety at Tech.
Overall, Griffin's athleticism, tackling ability, and propensity for delivering big hits will be plenty for him to contribute in his time at Tech, especially on special teams (where he contributed quite a bit in high school). However, there is some work to be done in order for him to contribute much on defense.
Do you see Corey playing as a freshman? How do you see him fitting in over his time at Tech?
View Corey's highlights on his Hudl page, found here: Link.