There is not a player who should receive a 99 overall rating in EA Sports’ “College Football 25” video game, which is set to be released July 19.
For the most part, the coveted 99 overall rating has been reserved for Heisman Trophy winners and consensus top-five overall selections heading into the upcoming NFL Draft.
The last 99 OVR player was South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney in “NCAA Football ‘14,” and he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Other 99s include former USC QB Matt Leinart, former USC running back Reggie Bush, former Florida QB Tim Tebow, former Stanford QB Andrew Luck and former Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. Put another way, that’s three Heisman winners, and the No. 1 and No. 4 overall selection in their respective NFL Drafts.
Heading into 2024, I believe the upcoming NFL Draft class to be deep. And there’s always the chance that some player breaks out as the season unfolds and ascends into the God-tier of EA Sports’ “College Football 25.”
Here are the players I think will have the highest rating in this year’s game, counting down from No. 5-to-1:
5. Georgia QB Carson Beck: 97
2023 stats: 72.4% passing, 3,941 passing yards, 24 passing TDs, 6 INTs
These are solid numbers for Beck, who has done everything but lead Georgia to an SEC title and national championship. The Bulldogs enjoy being balanced on offense, especially given the talent Kirby Smart has assembled on defense. But this season will be Beck’s first without the best tight end he might ever play with in Brock Bowers, who caught 56 passes for 714 yards with six TDs last year. No one else accounted for more than 550 yards receiving on Georgia’s 2023 roster. Developing a kinship with a receiving corps that will look to pick up the slack will be at the top of Beck’s passing agenda.
4. Texas QB Quinn Ewers: 97
2023 stats: 69% passing, 3,479 passing yards, 22 passing TDs, 6 INTs
Ewers might be the most talented quarterback in the sport this year. When he’s had time to throw, he’s shown himself capable of being accurate deep down the field. While he lost first-round pick Xavier Worthy and tight end JT Sanders to the NFL Draft, he saw the Longhorns add former Alabama wide out Isaiah Bond and tight end Amari Niblack to an offense that returns Johntay Cook and CJ Baxter. For Ewers, the question is: Can he remain healthy for the entire season? In two years, he hasn’t played an entire season without missing at least one game due to injury. It will be interesting to see how “College Football 25” accounts for that.
3. Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II: 98
2023 stats: 285 rushes, 1,732 rushing yards, 2,062 total yards, 21 rushing TDs, 39 catches
A workhorse like former Oklahoma State running back and 2,000-yard rusher Chubba Hubbard, Gordon is on a path that could see him not just lead the Cowboys back to the Big 12 title game, but firmly supplant his name in the Heisman conversation. After becoming OSU’s first Doak Walker Award winner, he could end the year as not just OSU’s best tailback since Hubbard, but perhaps its best since Barry Sanders won the Heisman 36 years ago.
2. Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter: 98
2023 stats: 57 catches, 721 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns, 30 tackles, 2 TFLs, 3 INTs, 5 pass breakups
Hunter has demonstrated he’s elite, and he won the Paul Hornung Award — given to the nation’s best all-purpose player — last year as a sophomore. He’s a safe bet to be selected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft next year, and he could end the season as a Heisman finalist if he increases his production on both sides of the ball and if the Buffaloes are good.
While Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has been an unqualified success at Colorado — quadrupling the Buffs’ win total from 2022 to 2023 — 4-8 is not a successful season for fans who crave playing in bowl games and seeing players like Hunter — or quarterback Shedeur Sanders for that matter — enjoy success befitting their talent. The only drawback to Hunter is how healthy he might be down the stretch, given he’s likely to play over 1,000 snaps this season.
There is also the 294 receiving yards that he and the Buffs gave up to Stanford wideout Elic Ayomanor, who would be right to say, “If Hunter is a 98, then I’m a 99.”
1. Oklahoma S Billy Bowman Jr.: 98
2023 stats: 63 tackles, 6 INTs, 3 INTs returned for TDs
Added stat: Gave JT Sanders the “knick-knack, patty-whack, gave that man a crack.”
In 2008, Ohio State defensive back Malcolm Jenkins accounted for 57 tackles and three interceptions on a team that finished 10-3. For his efforts, Jenkins won the Thorpe Award and earned a rating of 96 in “NCAA Football ‘09.”
Bowman did it better on a team that also finished 10-3.
Honorable mention:
Ohio State S Caleb Downs: 96
Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka: 96
Michigan DT Mason Graham: 95
Georgia DB Malaki Starks: 95
Notre Dame DL Howard Cross III: 95
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: 94
Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders: 94
Michigan DB Will Johnson: 94
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel: 94
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart: 93
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.
