EA Sports Releases Statement On College Football

With the new NIL guidelines in place, college football fans across the world are eagerly waiting for the release of EA's college football game.

With college athletes all across the country taking full advantage of the new NIL guidelines, EA Sports released a statement regarding the development and return of its much anticipated college football game. 

"We are watching the recent developments regarding student-athlete name, image and likeness very closely. It’s still very early stages at this point, and we plan to explore the possibility of including players in EA SPORTS College Football. For now, our development team is focused on working with our partners at CLC to ensure the game authentically showcases the great sport of college football and the more than 100 institutions signed on to be featured in our game.”

Last week, a document was shared on Twitter detailing EA's proposal to participating schools.  The proposal includes a tiering structure based on each institutions football performance over a 10-year period, along with the release for each new installment of the game itself.

Got another copy of the EA Sports/CLC proposal to FBS schools, dated Jan 15, with fewer redactions than previous copies. Here's a bit more info on the money schools may make from the game:

Appears to be a four year license proposal pic.twitter.com/tVNegAXd8P

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) June 25, 2021

The statement comes not long after EA Sports announced that it would be rebooting its incredibly popular college football series that ended back in 2014.  Former Michigan Wolverine Denard Robinson was the last player to grace the cover the game, one that many college football fans still play to this day.

Owner and Publisher of Wolverine Digest, Brandon Brown, recently did an interesting exercise to see which current Wolverines would be rated the highest if the game were released today.  

Here's what he came up with:

Fastest

This rating award goes to sophomore wide receiver Roman Wilson. Worthy's personal best in the 100m dash is 10.55, while Wilson's is 10.68. Both are incredibly fast and would definitely challenge each other as the fastest player on Michigan's roster. If I was designing the game, I'd give Wilson a 96 speed rating.

Highest Overall - Freshman

If you're familiar with the 2014 version of NCAA Football, you know that the highest-rated incoming freshmen generally hover around 81 or 82 overall. Those kinds of skills from day one usually result in a player finishing their career in the high 90s overall. That's the kind of trajectory I see for running back Donovan Edwards. The standout from West Bloomfield is college ready right now because of his build at 5-11, 190 pounds, speed, vision, balance and ability as a receiver. He's already at Michigan and is as ready to play the position as a freshman can be. He's also a newly-minted five-star prospect per 247 Sports, which means that he'd be in that discussion for the "80 Overall Club" as a true freshman. As a rookie, Edwards would be in the discussion as the highest-rated running back on the roster as an 81 overall with a 93 in both speed and acceleration.

Best Accuracy

It's honestly hard to say who would be the highest-rated quarterback on the roster, but in terms of accuracy and arm strength, it's pretty clear to me. Even though he's just a freshman, JJ McCarthy is likely already the most accurate thrower on the team. Cade McNamara would give him a run for his money, but if they competed in an accuracy contest, I'd give the edge to JJ. As a senior at IMG Academy, McCarthy didn't throw one interception. He's been lighting it up since he was a freshman and led Nazareth Academy to a state championship as a sophomore. Simply put — he can put the ball exactly where he wants to. He'd be a 90 in the accuracy department if it were up to me.

Highest Strength

With Kwity Paye and Ben Mason set to begin the next chapter of their football lives, the strongest player on the team is up for debate. Senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson would certainly be in the mix, as would offensive linemen Chuck Filiaga and Nolan Rumler, but overall, I'm going to go with junior defensive tackle Christopher Hinton. At 6-4, 305 pounds, he's one of the biggest and most athletic players on the team. He might not be at the top of every lift, but I think overall, he'd score the best if the team was put through a weightlifting competition. As he prepares to be one of the mainstays on the defensive line in 2021, I'd give him a strength rating of 92.

Highest Overall

There are some talented players on Michigan's roster, but Daxton Hill stands out above them all. As he gets ready for his junior season, Hill is going to need to do a lot under new safeties coach George Helow. We've seen Hill create turnovers, cover top receivers and even excel with the ball in his hands on a fake punt. The kid is such a natural that he really could play several positions on both sides of the ball if asked. He's a safety by label, but he plays like a cornerback quite often making him extremely skilled when it comes to video game ratings. He's extremely fast, can play man and zone coverage, has great ball skills and tackles extremely well. If he were being graded out as a video game player, he'd have little to no weaknesses. He'll be eligible for the NFL Draft after next season and will likely be one of the more coveted defensive backs in the country. If he were on this year's version of NCAA Football, he'd be a 95 overall all day long.