The Top 5 South Carolina players in EA College Football 25

Virtual college football is officially back for South Carolina fans after a decade as the early version of EA College Football 25 was released on Monday in anticipation of its complete public release later this week.

Any time there are going to be rankings involved of any kind, there will be controversy, and as always seems to be the case with video games, EA nailed some details, while getting others quite wrong.

Later in the week, we’ll try to dive into details on what the developers got right and wrong as it pertains to South Carolina but for now, here are the Top 5 Gamecocks in the game, with thoughts on each, followed by a full list compiled by On3’s Matt Connolly.

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1. RB Rocket Sanders – Rating 88

Looking back at my attempt to predict the top players in the game in February and the order of the top three was spot on, though I frankly went a little too homerish on the ratings themselves — I also blame having not played the game in a decade and forgetting that the rankings are a little bit muted overall from what I remembered.

Sanders comes in first on the list for South Carolina with an overall rating of 88, which is fair. I also suspect he’ll have an opportunity to move up big-time during the season if he can return to his 2022 form. Sanders and now-Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins were arguably the top two backs in the SEC that year and Judkins, who did not suffer the setbacks last year that Sanders did, is a 95 in this year’s game for reference.

While LaNorris Sellers, largely due to his inexperience, isn’t highly rated (78 overall), he does have speed in the game and Gamecock fans should have a lot of fun attacking opponents with that duo.

2. S Nick Emmanwori – 87

Another athletic freak, Emmanwori is arguably the best overall athlete on the team, though Nyck Harbor would certainly have an argument.

I once again overestimated here on the rating (91) but did have Emmanwori second on the team.

The Irmo product bounced around from safety to nickel and back to safety early last season which slowed some of his production but he settled back in nicely at safety and ultimately collected 71 tackles with two interceptions.

With 156 career tackles in just two seasons, and elite speed, agility and size, Emmanwori hits the sweet spot of production plus elite attributes and made a strong case for top South Carolina defender in the game.

T-3. LB Debo Williams – 85

Three for three on overestimating the ratings and getting the order right.

Williams, who was an All-SEC defender last year, the team’s leading tackler, and an Honorable Mention All-American, is one of the more accomplished players on the Gamecocks roster.

When you add on-field production with experience and awareness, you’ll usually have a pretty strong video game player.

T-3. RE Tonka Hemingway – 85

I had Hemingway as fifth on the team with a rating of 87 but having him tied for third definitely makes sense too for a guy who could make a big move up draft boards this season.

What’s somewhat disappointing is that the game has Hemingway as an end rather than defensive tackle where he spends most of his time. Of course, the game also appears to have the Gamecocks base D as a 3-3-5 and Hemingway does play more of an end spot in that scheme, so maybe they got this one right.

5. LOLB Kyle Kennard – 84

This is where things diverge.

I didn’t have Kennard in my predicted Top 5 but he does have some production to this point in his career and is a projected starter for the Gamecocks, so it makes sense.

Much like Hemingway above, the position may end up being off since Kennard will play the end/EDGE spot in both the 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 for the Gamecocks in real life while the game may have him as a true standup linebacker based on the LOLB designation.

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South Carolina EA Sports College Football 25 Player Ratings

HB Rocket Sanders 88
SS Nick Emmanwori 87
MLB Debo Williams 85
RE Tonka Hemingway 85
LOLB Kyle Kennard 84
WR Jared Brown 83
C Vershon Lee 83
TE Joshua Simon 82
WR Nyck Harbor 82
LG Jakai Moore 82
CB O’Donnell Fortune 81
C Torricelli Simpkins III 81
TE Brady Hunt 81
DT Alex Huntley 80
WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce 80
ROLB Bam Martin-Scott 80
WR Gage Larvadain 80
P Kai Kroeger 80
FS DQ Smith 80
MLB Demetrius Knight Jr. 80
SS Jalon Kilgore 80
LT Tree Babalade 79
RG Trovon Baugh 79
WR Dalevon Campbell 79
CB Vicari Swain 79
DT TJ Sanders 79
RG Kamaar Bell 78
RE Dylan Stewart 78
LE Elijah Davis 78
QB LaNorris Sellers 78
SS Gerald Kilgore 78
CB Judge Collier 78
CB Emory Floyd 78
QB Robby Ashford 78
HB Djay Braswell 77
HB Oscar Adaway III 77
LG Markee Anderson 77
C Ryan Brubaker 76
SS David Spaulding 76
RE DeAndre Jules 76
LMB Mohamed Kaba 76
FS Buddy Mack III 76
RT Cason Henry 75
ROLB Jaron Willis 75
RT Josiah Thompson 75
RE Monkell Goodwine 75
FS Peyton Williams 75
LOLB Bryan Thomas Jr. 75
MLB JayR Johnson 74
LE Jatius Geer 74
TE Nick Elksnis 74
FS Kelvin Hunter 73
DT Nick Barrett 73
LT Kam Pringle 73
LOLB Desmond Umeozulu 73
QB Davis Beville 73
WR Debron Gatling 72
RE Wendell Gregory 72
LE Gilber Edmond 72
WR Luke Doty 71
WR Vandrevius Jacobs 71
SS David Bucey 70
RG Chase Sweigart 70
TE Connor Cox 70
K Mason Love 69
WR CJ Adams 69
QB Dante Reno 69
LT Jatavius Shivers 69
LG Blake Franks 68
HB Jawarn Howell 68
SS King-Demenian Ford 68
WR Tyshawn Russell 65
WR Mazeo Bennett 64
WR Payton Mangrum 64
MLB Andrew Colasurdo 57

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