What’s the difference between EA’s ratings adjusters and NFL scouts? Besides the fact that one is respected and the other gets constantly dunked on and laughed at (sorry, ratings adjusters). A main difference I see, beyond their levels of legitimacy, is that they are evaluating players for different things.
The ratings for EA Sports’ College Football 26 are adjusted throughout the college football season and reflect a player’s ability to excel in College Football. NFL scouts, however, are looking for NFL traits, size, and intangibles that will translate well into the pros, while also evaluating their ability to grow and develop as players.
What I’m interested in seeing is how those two things vary in terms of the prospects for this upcoming NFL draft. Which leads us to the Combine, the ultimate athletic evaluation event in all of sports, and the current epicenter of the NFL world as on-field workouts start today.
This event will be the best time for us as fans to learn about the prospects and see their measurables, and I wanted to share some of the top 50 players broken down each by each day and position (ordered by their current NFL Network ranking), along with their CFB overall, so that we can see which players are overrated by the game’s ratings adjusters, and which ones are overrated by the scouts.
Day 1: Defensive Line And Linebackers
DL
- David Bailey, Texas Tech, 97 Overall
- Reuben Bain Jr., Miami, 98 Overall
- Akheem Mesidor, Miami, 92 Overall
- Cashius Howell, Texas A&M, 91 Overall
- Lee Hunter, Texas Tech, 90 Overall
- Keldric Faulk, Auburn, 93 Overall
- T.J. Parker, Clemson, 95 Overall
- Kayden McDonald, Ohio State, 91 Overall
- Caleb Banks, Florida, 90 Overall
- Peter Woods, Clemson, 95 Overall
- R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma, 91 Overall
- Christen Miller, Georgia, 94 Overall
- Zion Young, Missouri, 89 Overall
David Bailey and Cashius Howell are the two premier pure edge rushers, while the two Miami studs, along with Parker and Faulk, are guys who could play 3-4 DT or 4-3 DE. Hunter, McDonald, Banks, and Woods meanwhile are your pure DTs and NTs.
Zion Young is the most underrated of the edge rushers in the NFL Network top 50, but is also ranked number 47, so it’s a pretty fair rating throughout this position. The two Clemson guys might be slightly overrated in the game, probably because of Clemson’s marketability.
LB
- Arvell Reese, Ohio State, 94 Overall
- Sonny Styles, Ohio State, 93 Overall
- C.J. Allen, Georgia, 93 Overall
- Anthony Hill Jr., Texas, 95 Overall
- Jake Golday, Cincinnati, 90 Overall
As a fan of college football (both the game and the sport), I was surprised not to see Jacob Rodriguez on this list, but apparently, his measurables aren’t quite up to first or second-round pick quality. NFL teams probably are looking for the traits that these five players have, rather than Rodriguez, if they are going to spend valuable draft capital on the linebacker position.
Day 2: Defensive Backs And Tight Ends
DB
- Mansoor Delane, LSU, 95 Overall
- Caleb Downs, Ohio State, 97 Overall
- Jermod McCoy, Tennessee, 93 Overall
- Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo, 93 Overall
- Dillon Thieneman, Oregon, 95 Overall
- Colton Hood, Tennessee, 86 Overall
- Avieon Terrell, Clemson, 93 Overall
- Brandon Cisse, South Carolina, 83 Overall
- Keionte Scott, Miami, 92 Overall
There are some really quality players in this group, I’ve heard it’s one of the better DB classes we’ve had in the draft in a while. Downs has been a 95+ overall player in the game for two seasons now, and is properly rated highly along with LSU’s Delane and Tennessee’s McCoy.
What’s interesting is that the underrated players in this position seem to be mainly underrated because they aren’t the best corner on their team (Hood is behind McCoy on the Volunteers and Cisse is behind Jalon Kilgore who chose to stay on the Gamecocks for another season). Perhaps that is a factor EA should look into.
TE
- Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon, 94 Overall
Sadiq is the only Tight end in the top 50, and that is fair, with Eli Stowers of Vanderbilt being the only real snub here.
Day 3: Running Backs, Quarterbacks, And Wide Receivers
RB
- Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame, 97 Overall
- Jadarian Price, Notre Dame, 89 Overall
Of course, the running back position is so undervalued in the NFL that only two guys crack the top 50, and they happen to be on the same team. Obviously, Daniel Jeremiah and the NFL Network seem to see something in Jadarian Price that puts him over several other running backs in the game with a better rating.
QB
- Fernando Mendoza, Indiana, 99 Overall
- Ty Simpson, Alabama, 90 Overall
Outside of Mendoza, this might be one of the worst QB classes of all time. And it might be interesting to talk about, but not right now. Now is the time to praise the only 99 rated player in the game and quickly move on. Good job Mendoza! Welcome to Vegas!
WR
- Carnell Tate, Ohio State, 94 Overall
- Makai Lemon, USC, 95 Overall
- Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State, 96 Overall
- Denzel Boston, Washington, 93 Overall
- Omar Cooper Jr., Indiana, 90 Overall
- KC Concepcion, Texas A&M, 92 Overall
- Malachi Fields, Notre Dame, 90 Overall
- Antonio Williams, Clemson, 89 Overall
- Zachariah Branch, Georgia, 90 Overall
I think EA was reading the draft reports when rating the receivers, because it’s eerily similar. There are a few inconsistencies but they are small and are based on just a few overall points.
It’s fascinating that Omar Cooper is underrated in the game compared to the draft experts, because his running mate had the exact opposite thing happen to him. Sage Sarratt, the other Indiana receiver, failed to make this list but had a 94 overall rating from the game. Maybe they just got them confused?!
Day 4: Offensive Linemen
- Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State, 93 Overall
- Francis Mauigoa, Miami, 95 Overall
- Spencer Fano, Utah, 93 Overall
- Blake Miller, Clemson, 91 Overall
- Monroe Freeling, Georgia, 88 Overall
- Kadyn Proctor, Alabama, 92 Overall
- Caleb Lomu, Utah, 89 Overall
- Max Iheanachor, Arizona State, 86 Overall
The big uglies cap off NFL Combine weekend, and this class is good, but it doesn’t have any elite talent like years past that will warrant a top-five or even top-ten pick. Mauigoa is probably the most well-known player on this list, given his role on a team that reached the championship game, which probably explains the EA rating being the highest on this list.
The most interesting name on this list is the last name, Max Iheanachor, from Arizona State. This is a huge man with ideal size and athleticism fit for the NFL, but he is very raw in his skills and fundamentals. He didn’t play football until college and is still learning the game, but he’s already a beast, and this is a great example of EA rating someone based on their current ability while NFL scouts are measuring potential.
Best Players In EA Sports College Football Not In The Top 50 Prospects
- Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech, 97 Overall
- D’Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana, 95 Overall
- Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana, 94 Overall
- Brian Parker II, OT, Duke, 94 Overall
- Logan Jones, C, Iowa, 94 Overall
- Chris Johnson, CB, SDSU, 93 Overall
- Caleb Tiernan, OT, Northwestern, 93 Overall
- Emmet Johnson, RB, Nebraska, 93 Overall
- Gennings Dunker, OT, Iowa, 93 Overall
- Keegan Trost, OT, Missouri, 93 Overall
- Pat Coogan, C, Indiana, 93 Overall
- Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt, 93 Overall
- Trey Zuhn, OT, Texas A&M, 93 Overall
- Diego Pavia, QB, Vanderbilt, 93 Overall
- Kaytron Allen, RB, Penn State, 92 Overall
- Chris Brazzell II, WR, Tennessee, 92 Overall
- Mikail Kamara, EDGE, Indiana, 92 Overall
- Jonah Coleman, RB, Washington, 92 Overall
- Skyler Bell, WR, UConn, 92 Overall
These guys will be interesting to watch not just in the combine, but also throughout their professional careers. They are guys that EA has ranked among its top players, but whom the scouts have snubbed from the top 50. They range from guys like Ponds, Chris Johnson, and Brazzell, who are just outside the top fifty based on most reports, to guys like Diego Pavia and Keegan Trost, who could go undrafted.
There are a lot of offensive linemen on this list, which is kind of contrary to my assumption that NFL front offices (and the media that reports on them) would value the offensive line more than a video game. It’s also interesting that Indiana players appear 4 times in this list, which probably resulted from EA boosting their stats for the National Championship.
