The 27-year-old, who has been captaining the Dogs in the absence of Matthew Boyd, collected a game-high 37 touches against the Hawks.
The effort equated to 22.9 player ratings points, which was the sixth-highest score of round 17.
After beginning the season in 20th place on the player ratings table, Griffen has climbed to ninth.
His rise has resulted in Hawthorn's Cyril Rioli dropping to 10th, while West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has been pushed out of the top 10.
Eagles forward Josh Kennedy was the top scorer in round 17 with 27.9 points.
Kennedy kicked four goals in the loss to the Sydney Swans on Sunday, all from outside 40m, gave off three score assists and took six marks, three of which were contested. He also laid five tackles.
As recently as round 13, Kennedy was 163rd on the overall player ratings table and 34th among forwards.
Since then he has risen to 89th overall and 12th among forwards.
Kennedy leads the Coleman Medal with 51 goals to his name. He also leads the competition for tackles inside 50. He has 31 to his name, seven more than any other player.
St Kilda midfielder Jack Steven has also surged up the player ratings ladder, rising from 64th at the start of the season to 21st heading into this round.
Steven had 25 disposals at 80 per cent efficiency in Saturday night's narrow loss to Port Adelaide. In addition, he booted three goals.
His effort equated to 25.8 points, which was the highest score of his career and the third-highest of any player for the round.
