Inside look at Penn State player ratings, who’s missing in EA Sports’ College Football 25
The early access for EA College Football 25 began Monday afternoon and with it came rosters full of ratings to dive into. There will be plenty of discussion about Penn State’s ratings in the long-awaited video game, but the most notable aspect of each roster — including the Nittany Lions — is who isn’t on them.
Penn State fans will have to go without two key starters on defense and some depth pieces.
Both Jaylen Reed and Hakeem Beamon were not in the game at launch, setting the team back at both safety and defensive tackle in the game.
Other scholarship players and notable walk-ons missing include RB Quinton Martin Jr., RB Corey Smith, WR Tyseer Denmark, WR Peter Gonzalez, WR Mehki Flowers, TE Andrew Rappleyea, TE Joey Schlaffer, OL Donnie Harbour, OL Eagan Boyer, OL Caleb Brewer, DE Mason Robinson, DE Joseph Mupoyi, CB Kenny Woseley Jr., P Gabe Nwosu, P Riley Thompson and K Ryan Barker.
Some of those players — like Denmark, for instance — are not in the game because they did not arrive at Penn State until the summer.
Let’s take a look at the ratings for each Nittany Lion on the roster, along with other notes about individual ratings at each position:
Quarterback
Drew Allar — 88 overall
Beau Pribula — 76 overall
Ethan Grunkemeyer — 75 overall
Jaxon Smolik — 72 overall
Notes: Allar is the second-highest rated quarterback in the Big Ten behind only Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel at 92 overall. Allar is tied nationally for the fifth-strongest arm at the position with 96 throw power, while also boasting 80 speed, only two points below Pribula.
Running back
Nick Singleton — 91 overall
Kaytron Allen — 87 overall
Cam Wallace — 68 overall
Notes: Singleton is tied with Wallace and wide receiver Omari Evans as the fastest players on the team with 94 speed and tied with Abdul Carter and K.J. Winston as the highest-rated Penn Stater. The Nittany Lions starter is also the eighth-best running back in the game and third-best in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
Wide receiver
Julian Fleming — 83 overall
Harrison Wallace III — 80 overall
Liam Clifford — 76 overall
Kaden Saunders — 74 overall
Omari Evans — 73 overall
Anthony Ivey — 72 overall
Josiah Brown — 67 overall
Tyler Johnson — 66 overall
Notes: Fleming comes in as the highest-rated receiver on the team, which lost KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Dante Cephas to Auburn and Kansas State, respectively, in the transfer portal. Both Lambert-Smith and Cephas are rated 82 overall in the game. Evans, as previously mentioned, is tied with Singleton and Wallace as the fastest players on the team with 94 speed.
Tight end
Tyler Warren — 90 overall
Luke Reynolds — 79 overall
Jerry Cross — 78 overall
Khalil Dinkins — 78 overall
Tyler Duzansky — 55 overall
Notes: Warren is the third-highest rated tight end in the game, which isn’t overly surprising. However, what is surprising is Reynolds’ speed. The freshman has 88 speed and is the third-fastest tight end in the game.
Offensive line
Left tackle
Drew Shelton — 81 overall
J’ven Williams — 80 overall
Garrett Sexton — 74 overall
Left guard
Vega Ioane — 80 overall
JB Nelson — 79 overall
Center
Nick Dawkins — 77 overall
Cooper Cousins — 76 overall
Dominic Rulli — 65 overall
Right guard
Sal Wormley — 84 overall
Alex Birchmeier — 79 overall
Right tackle
Nolan Rucci — 80 overall
Chimdy Onoh — 76 overall
Anthony Donkoh — 76 overall
Notes: Penn State doesn’t have the highest-rated offensive line, but it boasts some of the strongest linemen. Williams is the only player in the game with 99 strength, while Onoh is the second-strongest right tackle and Ioane is the fourth-strongest right guard.
Defensive line
Left end
Dani Dennis-Sutton — 85 overall
Zuriah Fisher — 79 overall
Smith Vilbert — 74 overall
Jordan Mayer — 71 overall
Mylachi Williams — 70 overall
Right end
Abdul Carter — 91 overall
Amin Vanover — 76 overall
Jameial Lyons — 73 overall
Jaylen Harvey — 69 overall
Defensive tackle
Dvon J-Thomas — 80 overall
Zane Durant — 79 overall
Coziah Izzard — 77 overall
Liam Andrews — 74 overall
Xavier Gilliam — 69 overall
T.A. Cunningham — 68 overall
De’Andre Cook — 67 overall
Notes: There may not be a more underrated player on Penn State’s roster than Dennis-Sutton. He has as good of a chance as anyone to skyrocket up as the season progresses and the roster gets updated. Ditto for Lyons. Carter is tied with Singleton and Winston as the highest-rated players on the team, and is also the fastest right end and second-fastest defensive end with 89 speed. Notably, Dvon J-Thomas is still listed as Dvon Ellis in the game after changing his name in the offseason. That could be rectified in an update.
Linebacker
Left outside linebacker
Dom DeLuca — 78 overall
Kaveion Keys — 76 overall
Kari Jackson — 67 overall
Middle linebacker
Kobe King — 84 overall
Tyler Elsdon — 74 overall
Anthony Speca — 69 overall
Right outside linebacker
Tony Rojas — 82 overall
Keon Wylie — 77 overall
Ta’Mere Robinson — 73 overall
Notes: Penn State has all of its scholarship linebackers in the game, with Rojas standing out as a potential playmaker at the second level. Tyrece Mills, who is a linebacker on the team’s roster, is listed at safety in the game.
Cornerback
Cam Miller — 82 overall
A.J. Harris — 82 overall
Jalen Kimber — 81 overall
Elliot Washington II — 76 overall
Jon Mitchell — 76 overall
Zion Tracy — 76 overall
Audavion Collins — 72 overall
Antoine Belgrave-Shorter — 68 overall
Notes: This might be the position that benefits most from roster updates in the future, as Penn State is replacing all three starting corners from last year. Any three of these players could ascend rapidly and see themselves rated much higher by the end of the season.
Safety
Free safety
Zakee Wheatley — 80 overall
Vaboue Toure — 73 overall
Strong safety
Kevin Winston Jr. — 91 overall
DaKaari Nelson — 78 overall
Tyrece Mills — 75 overall
Notes: Winston is tied with Singleton and Carter as the highest-rated player on the team but is also the second-best strong safety in the game. Without Reed, the top of the depth chart takes a hit, just as it does without King Mack, who transferred to Alabama in the spring. Mack is a 79 overall with 98 speed.
Specialists
Kicker
Chase Meyer — 73 overall
Sander Sahaydak — 67 overall
Punter
N/A
Notes: Penn State does not have a real punter in the game, although it does have a punter — it’s just a made-up character to take the place of players like Thompson and Nwosu. Thompson is the biggest special teams absence as a proven starter who was able to make an impact on games for the Nittany Lions last season.
