The most anticipated sports game release of the last decade finally arrives, officially, on Friday, but fans who bought the Deluxe edition of EA Sports College Football 25 have had their hands on the game since Monday.
That means a lot of hours already have been spent on Dynasty building and Road To Glory. The game isn’t just a place to turn your favorite team (or a completely random one) into a {layoff contender, as it also offers a nice way to get to know the college football landscape before the season. With the actual players in the game this year, EA isn’t just approximating the talent on the field, they’re trying to get as realistic as possible with guys skills. That’s quite the undertaking with 13,000+ players, but they’re leaning on PFF and others to dial in ratings in order to try and deliver that.
The expectation is that they’ll be a bit more dialed on bigger schools, but their stated purpose is to make all 134 teams feel like the real thing. Getting to know all of those teams is difficult, but the game can help you know what every team’s stars are. We went down the list from A to Z (well, W because there’s no Y or Z teams in FBS) and found the best player (or players) for every roster according to EA Sports.
Air Force: Payton Zdroik (DT) 86 OVR
Akron: Darrian Lewis (CB) 82 OVR
Alabama: Parker Brailsford (C) and Malachi Moore (FS) 92 OVR
Appalachian State: Thomas Shrader (LG) 86 OVR
Arizona: Tetairoa McMillan (WR) 94 OVR
Arizona State: Cam Skattebo (RB) 85 OVR
Arkansas: Landon Jackson (LE) 91 OVR
Arkansas State: Jacob Bayer (C) 89 OVR
Army: Tyrell Robinson (RB) 82 OVR
Auburn: Jarquez Hunter (RB) 90 OVR
Ball State: Jon Mucciolo (LG) 83 OVR
Baylor: Caden Jenkins (CB) 84
Boise State: Ashton Jeanty (RB) 91 OVR
Boston College: Donovan Ezeiruaku (RE), Ozzy Trpilo (RT), and Cam Horsley (DT) 85 OVR
Bowling Green: Harold Fannin Jr. (TE) 89 OVR
Buffalo: Shaun Dolac (MLB) 82 OVR
BYU: Tyler Batty (LE) 84 OVR
Cal: Jaydn Ott (RB) 93 OVR
Central Michigan: Donte Kent (CB) 87 OVR
Charlotte: Colin Weber (TE) 84 OVR
Cincinnati: Luke Kandra (RG) and Dontay Corleone (DT) 91 OVR
Clemson: Barrett Carter (ROLB) 94 OVR
Coastal Carolina: Matthew McDoom (CB) 88 OVR
Colorado: Travis Hunter (WR/CB) 95 OVR
Colorado State: Tory Horton (WR) 91 OVR
Duke: Jordan Moore (WR) 86 OVR
ECU: Shavon Revel (CB) 88 OVR
Eastern Michigan: Quentavius Scandrett (SS) 79 OVR
Florida: Jason Marshall Jr (CB) 89 OVR
FAU: DaeDae Hill (CB) 86 OVR
FIU: Hezekiah Masses (CB) 84 OVR
FSU: Patrick Payton (LE) 90 OVR
Fresno State: Malik Sherrod (RB) 89 OVR
Georgia: Malaki Starks (FS) 95 OVR
Georgia Southern: Jalen White (HB) 86 OVR
Georgia State: Kevin Swint (LOLB) 83 OVR
Georgia Tech: Romello Height (LE), Jamal Haynes (RB), and Eric Singleton Jr (WR) 85 OVR
Hawai’i: Steven McBride (WR) 85 OVR
Houston: Tank Jenkins (RG) and Donovan Smith (QB) 83 OVR
Illinois: J.C. Davis (LT), Tyler Strain (CB), Terrance Brooks (CB) 84 OVR
Indiana: D’Angelo Ponds (CB) 87 OVR
Iowa: Jay Higgins (MLB) 94 OVR
Iowa State: Jayden Higgins (WR) 88 OVR
Jacksonville State: Clay Webb (LG) 92 OVR
James Madison: Ayo Adeyi (RB) 87 OVR
Kansas: Devin Neal (RB) 92 OVR
Kansas State: DJ Giddens (RB) 88 OVR
Kennesaw State: Donovan Westmoreland (LE) and Donelius Johnson (MLB) 79 OVR
Kent State: Chrishon McCray (WR) and Stephen Daley (LE) 82 OVR
Kentucky: Deone Walker (RE) 93 OVR
Liberty: Kaidon Salter (QB) and Quinton Cooley (RB) 90 OVR
Louisiana: AJ Gillie (LG) 87 OVR
Louisiana Tech: Bert Hale (LG) 85 OVR
Louisville: Quincy Riley (CB) 92 OVR
LSU: Will Campbell (LT) 96 OVR
Marshall: Monroe Beard III (ROLB) and Logan Osburn (C) 83 OVR
Maryland: Ruben Hyppolite II (MLB) 86 OVR
Memphis: Seth Henigan (QB) 89 OVR
Miami (FL): Damien Martinez (RB) 91 OVR)
Miami (OH): Matt Salopek (ROLB) 90 OVR
Michigan: Will Johnson (CB) 96 OVR
Michigan State: Tanner Miller (C) 87 OVR
Middle Tennessee State: Julius Pierce (C), Holden Willis (TE), and Tyrell Raby (CB) 83 OVR
Minnesota: Aireontae Ersery (LT) 93 OVR
Mississippi State: Ethan Miner (C) 89 OVR
Missouri: Luther Burden III (WR) 94 OVR
Navy: Rayuan Lane III (FS) 86 OVR
NC State: Kevin Concepcion (WR) 89 OVR
Nebraska: Tommi Hill (CB) 89 OVR
Nevada: Andrew Madrigal (C) 83 OVR
New Mexico: Andrew Henry (RB) 81 OVR
New Mexico State: Canaan Yarro (C) 86 OVR
North Carolina: Omarion Hampton (RB) 93 OVR
North Texas: Roderick Brown (DT) and Ridge Texada (CB) 84 OVR
Northern Illinois: Antario Brown (RB) 85 OVR
Northwestern: Coco Azema (SS) 86 OVR
Notre Dame: Benjamin Morrison (CB) 94 OVR
Ohio: Jacob Dennison (LT) and Bradley Weaver (LE) 80 OVR
Ohio State: Quinshon Judkins (RB) and Caleb Downs (FS) 95 OVR
Oklahoma: Danny Stutsman (MLB) 91 OVR
Oklahoma State: Ollie Gordon II (RB) 96 OVR
Old Dominion: Jason Henderson (ROLB) 91 OVR
Ole Miss: Walter Nolen (DT) 93 OVR
Oregon: Dillon Gabriel (QB) 92 OVR
Oregon State: Joshua Gray (LG) 89 OVR
Penn State: Kevin Winston Jr (SS), Nicholas Singleton (RB), and Abdul Carter (RE) 91 OVR
Pitt: Javon McIntyre (FS) 85 OVR
Purdue: Gus Hartwig (C) and Dillon Thieneman (FS) 90 OVR
Rice: Dean Connors (RB) 88 OVR
Rutgers: Kyle Monangai (RB) 90 OVR
Sam Houston: Kavian Gaither (ROLB) 83 OVR
San Diego State: Myles Murao (RG) 85 OVR
San Jose State: Nick Nash (WR) 85 OVR
SMU: Logan Parr (LG) 91 OVR
South Alabama: Jaden Voisin (FS) 86 OVR
South Carolina: Raheim Sanders (RB) 88 OVR
Southern Miss: Rodrigues Clark (RB) 81 OVR
Stanford: Collin Wright and Elic Ayomanor (WR 88 OVR)
Syracuse: Oronde Gadsden II (TE) 91 OVR
TCU: Savion Williams (WR) 86 OVR
Temple: Wisdom Quarshie (RG) 82 OVR
Tennessee: James Pearce Jr (RE) 95 OVR
Texas: Kelvin Banks Jr (LT) 94 OVR
Texas A&M: Nic Scourton (LE) 90 OVR
Texas State: Ismail Mahdi (RB) 89 OVR
Texas Tech: Tahj Brooks (RB) 92 OVR
Toledo: Maxen Hook (SS) 88 OVR
Troy: Daniel King (RG) 87 OVR
Tulane: Makhi Hughes (RB) 90 OVR
Tulsa: Kamdyn Benjamin (WR) 86 OVR
UAB: Brady Wilson (C) 86 OVR
UCF: RJ Harvey (RB) 91 OVR
UCLA: J. Michael Sturdivant (WR) 88 OVR
UConn: Chase Lundt (RT) and Jelani Stafford (DT) 81 OVR
UL Monroe: Elijah Fisher (LG) 84 OVR
UMass: Tyler Rudolph (FS) and Dominick Mazotti (TE) 81 OVR
UNLV: Ricky White III (WR) 89 OVR
USC: Jonah Monheim (C) 92 OVR
USF: Sean Atkins (WR) 87 OVR
Utah: Brant Kuithe (TE) 90 OVR
Utah State: Ike Larsen (FS) 88 OVR
UTEP: Maurice Westmoreland (RE) 86 OVR
UTSA: De’Corian Clark (WR) and Oscar Cardenas (TE) 85 OVR
Vanderbilt: CJ Taylor (SS) 88 OVR
Virginia: Jonas Sanker (SS) 92 OVR
Virginia Tech: Dorian Strong (CB) 91 OVR
Wake Forest: Jasheen Davis (LE) 89 OVR
Washington: Kamren Fabiculanan (SS) 88 OVR
Washington State: Kapena Gushiken (CB) 83 OVR
West Virginia: Wyatt Milum (LT) 90 OVR
Western Kentucky: Anthony Johnson Jr (CB) 88 OVR
Western Michigan: Jacob Gideon (C) 88 OVR
Wisconsin: Ricardo Hallman (CB) 91 OVR
Wyoming: Harrison Waylee (RB) 89 OVR