A glimpse at Florida football's blue-chip quarterback ahead of 2025 Elite 11 Finals
The 2025 edition of the Elite 11 Finals — a showcase of 20 soon-to-be high school senior quarterbacks who travel to Los Angeles for three days of competition against other top quarterback talents — kicks off on Tuesday, and the list of participants includes one of Florida football's top-rated prep prospects.
Quarterback Will Griffin, a four-star gunslinger out of Tampa (Florida) Jesuit, is one of three Sunshine State products included in the event as well as one of a trio of recruits committed to a Southeastern Conference school. 247Sports' Andrew Ivins provides a quick breakdown of the Gators' future under center ahead of the Elite 11 Finals start.
"Enters senior year with 46 varsity starts under his belt, making him one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the class. Built like Tim Tebow, but wants to win more times than not with his arm. Finished regional on a high note as he was lights out in the red zone."
Ivins notes that Griffin reminds him most of former Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Hunter Dekkers, who played college from 2020 to 2022 in Ames and signed with the New Orleans Saints after college as an undrafted free agent.
2025 Elite 11 finalists by state
California - 3
Texas - 3
Florida - 3
Ohio - 1
Nebraska -1
Indiana - 1
Georgia - 1
Utah - 1
New Jersey - 1
North Carolina - 1
Arizona - 1
Tennessee - 1
2025 Elite 11 finalists by conference committed
ACC - 5
SEC - 3
Big Ten - 3
Big 12 - 3
Elite 11 History
16 of the last 17 QBs to win the Heisman Trophy attended Elite 11 finals or regionals
The last three Heisman Trophy-winning QBs were Elite 11 finalists
Twelve of the last 13 QBs to go No. 1 overall in NFL draft attended Elite 11 finals or regionals
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The Tigers' 4.04 bullpen ERA is well off the average ERA of our 40 pennant winners, which came in at 3.65. Series winners averaged a 3.61 bullpen ERA, while series losers averaged a 3.69 ERA. Even within their own seasons, pennant winners tended to have top-10 bullpens; their average rank was 10.2 – another knock on the No. 17 Tigers. Of course, within any group there will always be outliers – the ones that make you feel a bit better about the Tigers' chances – and that's certainly true here. While the Tigers' 4.04 mark would be better than just four of the past 20 World Series winners, one such team they have the edge on should be fairly easy to remember: The 2023 Texas Rangers, who took a gaudy 4.77 ERA (24th that season) into the postseason before riding a hot offense and a marginally improved bullpen (4.08 postseason ERA) to a crown. 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Actually, those Nats had the worst championship bullpen – ever. That 5.68 regular-season ERA was more than half a run worse than the next worse squad, the 1987 Twins (5.11). (The '87 Twins, of course, used just four relievers in the ALCS – accounting for a 2.25 ERA over 16 innings – to beat the Tigers en route to their Series win.) Other notably woeful Series winning bullpens: The 1935 Tigers, who had a 4.04 ERA (though that ranked fifth among 16 teams) ahead of the franchise's first World Series title, and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, whose bullpen had a 4.06 ERA (14th in the majors) during the regular season then posted a 1.00 ERA in nine innings of a five-game World Series victory over the Tigers. Then again, ERA isn't always the greatest measure of bullpen production. There's also … Save percentage? Getting better! A run given up by a reliever in the sixth inning of a blowout loss can mean a lot less than one by a closer in the ninth inning of a nail-biter. The good news for the Tigers: They've been among MLB's best this season at closing the door on close wins, once they get the lead. Tigers relievers have converted 68% (34-for-50) of save situations, sixth out of 30 teams in 2025. That mark would put the Tigers 25th among our 40 pennant winners, whose average save percentage was 69.2%. But just two of the past eight World Series winners have had a better save percentage – the 2022 Astros, at 76.8% and the 2018 Red Sox, at 69.7%. And, of course, both the Tigers' 2006 and '12 Series losers had better save percentages than the current iteration: The '06 Tigers entered the postseason having converted 74.2% of their save chances, only to lose to a Cards team at 66.7%, while the '12 Tigers hit the playoffs at 71.4% before falling to the 2012 Giants at 79.1%. Those closers are the stars, though. They (generally) can't get their saves if the guys in the middle didn't pick up the starters (and their fellow relievers) beforehand. And so we have one final stat to examine. Celebrate 125 seasons of the Tigers with our new book! Odds and evens Mark your calendars Closing time Inherited runners? Lock 'em down! The entire goal of pitching, of course, is to prevent runs, and that includes the ones on base when relievers enter. And by one measure, the Tigers are among MLB's best; just 27.4% of Tigers relievers' inherited runners – 52 of 190 – have scored in 2025, good for sixth in the majors, and well under the league average of 31.6%. (Your top Tiger at not allowing runners to score, among the seven with at least 10 inherited runners? Right-hander Tommy Kahnle, at just two of 20.) That 27.4% is better than each of the past nine World Series winners – including, you could probably guess, the woeful 2019 Nationals relievers, who allowed 41.6% of inherited runners to score in the regular season, then just two of nine (22.2%) in the Series against the 'Stros (sorry, A.J.) – while all 20 Series winners averaged 30%. Of note in our 40-pennant group: Both the Tigers' 2006 and '12 Series losers had worse inherited-runner-score percentages than the current iteration, with the '06 Tigers checking in at a 37.4% that's second-worst among all 40. The '12 squad, meanwhile, hit the postseason at 31.1% and then allowed just two of nine inherited runners to score in their four-game sweep by the Giants. All of which brings us back to our big question: Is the Tigers' bullpen good enough for the World Series? Well, we probably don't know right now – and we might not know until November, either.
