AUBURN – The wait is almost over for Auburn football fans.
It’s been almost 11 years since EA Sports released a college football video game. Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson donned the cape at the time, and the Tigers as a team were ranked 88 overall. This ranked 26th out of 126 programs in the game. SEC schools located above Auburn included Alabama (99), LSU (93), Georgia (91), Texas A&M (91), Florida (90) and Ole Miss (89). Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina tied Auburn at 88.
Maybe the Tigers are in a similar situation this time. Fans will find out in July when the game makes its highly anticipated return; EA Sports announced on Thursday that the game will officially launch on July 19. Those who pre-order will get three days of early access, starting July 16th.
With all the recent buzz, here’s a list of who we think will be Auburn’s five highest-rated players in the game:
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5. WR Cam Coleman (82 overall)
This one could be risky considering Cam Coleman is just a freshman. But players don’t get five-star status for no reason. Coleman, ranked by the 247Sports Composite as Auburn’s top offensive signee in the modern recruiting era, also showed his A-Day potential with four receptions for nearly 100 yards and a touchdown. Listed at 6-foot-3, the young playmaker should be able to climb the ladder – both in real life and in the video game – and make some contested catches.
T-3. EDGE Jalen McLeod (87 overall)
Senior pass rusher Jalen McLeod recorded a total of 37 pressures in his first year with the Tigers in 2023. That was tied for 61st in the country among 1,016 players Focus on professional football listed as edge defenders. The only SEC defenders above McLeod were Alabama’s Chris Braswell (56) and Dallas Turner (55), Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. (52), Florida’s Princely Umanmielen (45), Missouri’s Darius Robinson (42) and Tyler Baron of Tennessee (41). Three of those players – Braswell, Turner and Robinson – were recently drafted into the NFL.
T-3. RB Jarquez Hunter (87 overall)
It will take 538 yards in 2024 for Jarquez Hunter to make Auburn’s list of the 10 most productive rushers of all time. If he can muster 1,000 rushing yards — he scored 909 in 2023 and missed the season opener — he’ll be outside the top five, less than 200 yards behind Ben Tate. Hunter’s career yards per carry average of 6.2 yards shows his consistency, which should be rewarded with a more than solid rating in the video game.
T-1. TE Rivaldo Fairweather (88 overall)
With Georgia’s Brock Bowers headed to the NFL — he’ll play for the Las Vegas Raiders next season — the door is open for Rivaldo Fairweather to be the best tight end in the SEC. The former Florida International transfer recorded 394 receiving yards and six touchdowns during his first season on the Plains in 2023. With another offseason working alongside quarterback Payton Thorne, those numbers are expected to increase.
T-1. LB Eugene Asante (88 overall)
There is something to be said about consistency. Linebacker Eugene Asante, in a standout campaign last season, had 10 games in which he recorded at least five total tackles. He had eight or more tackles on five occasions and reached double figures three times. With a high motor and some recognizable speed, Asante should be fun to play with virtually, roaming the middle of the field and attacking RBs trying to jump out, just like he does in real life.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached by email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn Football: Predicting the best Tigers in EA College Football 25
