Where Notre Dame players rank in EA Sports College Football 25’s top 100
According to EA Sports College Football 25, which releases next month after months — years, even — of anticipation, the Notre Dame has four of the top 100 players in the NCAA. It’s a who’s who of Fighting Irish superstars — the players who have to come up big to lead the program to the 12-team College Football Playoff this season.
Junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison leads the way with an overall rating of 94. That puts him in as the 12th-best player in the country according to EA. Only 16 players nationwide earned an overall of 94 or higher.
Graduate student safety Xavier Watts came in with an overall rating of 92, placing him 28th nationally. Senior tight end Mitchell Evans and graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III both notched ratings of 90. EA placed Evans as the 74th-best player in the country. The company slotted Cross 77th.
Here are some more specific grades for all four players.
Notre Dame players included in EA Sports College Football 25’s top 100
| Player | Overall | Rank | Speed | Acceleration | Strength | Awareness | Jumping |
| CB Benjamin Morrison | 94 | 12 | 94 | 94 | 75 | 88 | 93 |
| S Xavier Watts | 92 | 28 | 86 | 92 | 72 | 97 | 90 |
| TE Mitchell Evans | 90 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 83 | 90 | 84 |
| DT Howard Cross III | 90 | 77 | 75 | 86 | 88 | 96 | 79 |
A notable omission for Notre Dame, perhaps, is quarterback Riley Leonard. Only eight quarterbacks made the top 100, though, so it was an exclusive cut. Those signal-callers are…
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (93 OVR, 17th)
Georgia’s Carson Beck (93 OVR, 18th)
Texas’ Quinn Ewers (92 OVR, 27th)
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (92 OVR, 30th)
Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (90 OVR, 71st)
Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart (90 OVR, 73rd)
Kansas’ Jalon Daniels (90 OVR, 79th)
Liberty’s Kaidon Salter (90 OVR, 90th)
Even without Leonard, Notre Dame is well-represented in the top 100. It’s no surprise three of the four players who made the list are from the Fighting Irish defense. That side of the ball was the team’s strength in 2023, and it’ll probably be that way in 2024.
If some Notre Dame players on offense — say, running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, for instance — make EA Sports think twice about omitting them from the top 100, then the Fighting Irish will have the type of CFP-bound season they’re looking for.
But again — four in the top 100 is a good start anyway. It’ll be a fun quartet to look forward to playing with in the game.
