I do get that it's primary role is as a missile platform, it's also my favourite ship design (neither looks like junk held together by tape, nor a modern art project) and always have one in my fleet as it's great to have a squall in order to split the enemy fleet in half.
It is most certainly over blowing it to say it's irrelevant, however every midline specialist get some flexibility, as all of them dispose of at least some missile and/or hybrid mounts along their main strength, along respectable stats everywhere.
Looking at DP cost it is supposed to be the next best thing after a Conquest, along the Eagle, yet we have to compare it to destroyers and it's still falling short everywhere but in the large missile mount, the only non-capital one, the only vanilla missile ship that is not a frigate.
The Gryphon is unique, if you want that mount you either get him or skip to the endgame, so it's important for it to not be too strong, the issue being that every other midline ship is above average in the charts, the only balanced ship within a well-performing family.
It's a flying large missile slot above all else, at over half the DP of capitals that get two of them along entire arsenals and far superior stats.