How Reliable are the EA College Football Player Ratings?

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Like many fans of college football and video games, the announcement that EA Sports was bringing back its college football game after more than a decade was exciting. With the release of College Football 25 this week, EA Sports unveiled its player rankings. While the Madden franchise has the "99 club" for players earning a 99 overall rating, how would the ratings look in the NCAA game?

While speculation has run the full spectrum of who should have the highest ratings and who should be ranked where, EA has released its top 100 list of player ratings and there is plenty to look at and wonder what the reasoning was behind the decisions. In the ratings, players were given their overall score as well as speed, acceleration, strength, awareness and jumping ability.

Biggest Questions for Rating Reliability

Players being given ratings higher than some believe has long been a thorn in the side of fans of both Madden and the NCAA football games, and the latest edition is no different. Here are some of the biggest question marks in the top 100 ratings.

One of the biggest questions for many is how are there no specific attributes for quarterbacks such as accuracy. Catch radius or ability for receivers and coverage for defensive backs would be other position-specific statistics that should be included.

Quarterback

While we all know that the quarterback class poised for the upcoming NFL Draft is not as stacked as last year, Colorado's Shedeur Sanders having the same rating as Georgia's Carson Beck as the top quarterback is pretty shocking. Both quarterbacks earned a 93 overall rating. While Beck and Sanders have fans and non-fans, the stats that each has amassed bring into question the duo's overall rating.

While it's not much of a surprise that Sanders was rated higher than Beck on speed (80 to 74), Sanders' best season was in 2022 at Jackson State with a completion percentage of 71. While Beck—in his first season as a full-time starter in 2023—completed 72.5 percent of his passes. While Sanders has surpassed the 3,000 passing yard mark in each of his three seasons as a starter, his highest mark of 3,732 is still short of Beck's 3,941.

Wide Receiver

While Colorado's Travis Hunter has shown repeatedly that he is a special talent able to play on offense as receiver and defense in the secondary, he has in some circles spread himself thin by not focusing on one position.

With more established receivers across the country, such as Luther Burden III at Missouri and Emeka Egbuka at Ohio State, how did Hunter rate a 95 overall compared to 94 for Burden and 93 for Egbuka?Hunter has a career-high of 721 yards receiving compared to 1,200 for Burden and 1,100 for Egbuka. Also, as a two-way player, it's interesting that Hunter is rated that high as a receiver with the highest grade and the sixth-highest player overall. The ratings for Hunter as opposed to other receivers seem based more on potential than what the player has done.

Cornerback

Will Johnson of the Michigan Wolverines earned the highest rating of all players in the game with a 96 overall. While he is coming off a season where he recorded 27 total tackles, 4 interceptions and 4 deflections, Jabbar Muhammad of the Washington Huskies had a better year overall, with 46 total tackles, three interceptions and 14 deflections adding a fumble recovery and 2 sacks. Muhammad was rated a 91 overall and ranked as the 65th best player overall.

How is a prototypical shutdown corner not rated better? The second highest-rated corner in the game is an interesting selection in Benjamin Morrison from Notre Dame. Rated a 94 overall, he has tallied 64 tackles and 9 interceptions in his two seasons for the Irish. While the ratings seem justified by the criteria of the game, it feels as if Muhammad was rated lower than what he has shown he can do on the field.

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Linebacker

Of the linebackers, both outside and inside, Barrett Carter from Clemson checks in with the highest rating at 94 overall. Jay Higgins from Iowa and Mykel Williams from Georgia were the only other linebackers to be inside the top 20 overall.

One of the biggest questions is Jason Henderson from Old Dominion ranked 50th overall with an overall rating of 91. While Higgins led the country in tackles last season with 171, Henderson finished four behind him with 167. The biggest difference between the two came in the strength category with Higgins earning an 81 rating and Henderson earning a 73. If the two players were tackling machines in 2023 how is the strength rating so different? All four players will provide players of the NCAA football game fun players to use as they attack the line of scrimmage and make plays the discrepancy in the stats does raise questions though.

Not a Popularity Contest

While overall the game to date has been welcomed and looks great, the reliability of the player ratings leaves questions for many. Why after the more than 10 years between installments are there no position-specific ratings? Also, factoring in what the players have done on the field instead of relying solely on potential or popularity would give the game a more realistic feel.