Predicting the top 5 Iowa Hawkeye overalls in 'EA Sports College Football 25'

The full reveal trailer for EA Sports College Football 25 dropped on Friday and now the entire college football world is buzzing in antipation to get their hands on a game series 11-years in the making.

The trailer didn't showcase too much of Iowa Hawkeyes, unfortunately. But, it did confirm that one of the best traditions in college football, the Hawkeye Wave, is in the game.

EA Sports says that when it comes to the players, there will be a wide range of ratings that will fluctuate throughout each game. While we wait to see exactly what that means in the coming weeks, it'll still be fun to predict which Hawkeyes will have the highest ratings on the team.

Iowa will likely have a lot of lower-mid 80-overall players in its starting lineup, with higher ratings on the defensive side of the ball. However, it's reasonable to expect the top players to have a high enough rating to allow Iowa to be a successful team in simulation so long as they stay healthy - much like the real-life Hawkeyes.

So, here's my best guess at the top five players for the Hawkeyes in EA Sports College Football 25.

#5 - QB Cade McNamara - 86

Everything for the 2024 Hawkeyes rides on the health of Cade McNamara. As such, he deserves a bit of a boost to his overall rating, even if he likely won't be one of the premier signal callers in the game.

Because McNamara is one of the most nationally recognized names on the roster, though, he should be one of the top five to seven players on the roster sheet in terms of overall rating.

McNamara may have a slight hit to his mobility ratings, but his accuracy and awareness ratings should provide a significant boost and make him a quality quarterback to play as, and a sneakily difficult one to play against. An 86 overall sounds fair for an experienced quarterback who has had his fair share of trials throughout his career.

#4 - C Logan Jones - 88

Surprisingly, Iowa will have three offensive players in the top five, because of Logan Jones.

Jones is the most experienced and talented of a solid offensive line for the Hawkeyes. Iowa can run the ball effectively, and that starts with the guy in the middle.

Because Iowa's offense does have to be a bit handcuffed after a poor showing in 2023, EA likely won't hand out too many 90+ ratings to the Hawkeyes. But Jones should be the closest player to that benchmark.

With that in mind, Iowa deserves solid ratings on the offensive line with Jones leading the way with an 88 overall. Jones will come in with excellent strength and awareness, a key attribute for centers in these games.

#3 - DB Sebastian Castro - 89

The defensive backfield returns some notable talent, and Sebastian Castro is the leader of the pack. While it'll be interesting to see how EA handles his versatile position, he should be a dangerous playmaker on the backend whether players manually use him or allow his AI to roam.

Castro led the Hawkeyes with eight pass breakups and three interceptions and he should be given the opportunity to do even more with a strong rating once the game releases. Castro should come equipped with one of the highest speed ratings on the team, a strong zone coverage rating plus high hit power and tackle ratings.

Honestly, 89 does feel conservative for Castro, but I don't expect EA to be particularly nice to Iowa in this department. Hopefully, Iowa Dynasty Mode users will see Castro climb into the 90s before heading to the NFL.

#2 - LB Jay Higgins - 90

Jay Higgins might be the best pound-for-pound player on Iowa's team. But I think EA will give that honor to another player.

Higgins tied the school record in tackles with 171 in 2023, and his five tackles for a loss, two sacks, one interception, four pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble helped him become a First-Team All-Big Ten linebacker.

Higgins should be rated as one of the top three or four Big Ten linebackers, though I'm not sure a 90 overall will be quite high enough for that. Still, EA should give him elite tackle, block-shedding, and awareness ratings.

#1 - TE Luke Lachey - 91

I get the feeling EA will lean into the memes with Iowa football. Heck, if Tory Taylor were still on the roster, he'd probably get the highest rating on the team. (By the way, don't be surprised if Rhys Daking is the highest-rated freshman punter in the game.)

With Iowa being TE-U, and Luke Lachey being one of the best tight ends in the country, his rating should certainly reflect that. However, I do expect Lachey will have a bit of a hurdle with his overall having missed most of 2023 due to injury.

Nonetheless, Lachey is a fifth-year senior who will be the pulse of the offense. McNamara should be looking his way often in this game, so a dominant overall is a necessity for the offense to mimic reality.

Lachey will no doubt have high awareness, catching and route running ratings. While his injury rating, like McNamara's, may be a bit low, if both are on the field, Iowa users should be fully capable of taking a game over with Lachey at their disposal.

When will EA Sports College Football 25 be released?

EA Sports College Football 25 will officially be released on July 19, 2024, for the Xbox One Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

The game is now available for pre-order with a Standard Edition for $69.99, a Deluxe Edition for $99.99, and an MVP edition for $149.99 which bundles the Deluxe Edition with EA Sports Madden NFL 25 Deluxe Edition, which will be released in August.

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