EA Sports top 100 players in College Football 26 may have some fans upset

It feels like living in a dream that the College Football video game rankings being released has become a yearly tradition. After begging for the game for over a decade, it made its triumphant return last summer, and now College Football 26 is here. And because we don’t have any real football to talk about, let’s argue about some player ratings. 

Every fan base will inevitably find some reason to feel slighted by a ratings release, but let’s take a look at a few of the players in the top 100 who have the right to feel aggrieved. 

The biggest College Football 26 ratings disputes (among the top 100 players)

Nicholas Singleton (93, RB4) vs. Jeremiah Love (95, RB1)

This dispute isn’t necessarily just about Singleton’s case to be higher than Love. Both were the lead-back in a time-share last season, and Love outproduced Singleton with more yards, more touchdowns, better yards per carry, and EPA/carry. Simply put, he’s the more effective back. The dispute is about Singleton not being the second-highest-rated running back in the game. 

Two running backs, Louisville’s Isaac Brown and Washington's Jonah Coleman, ranked above Singleton in the top 100. Both are elite running backs, and Brown has a case to be ahead of Singleton as RB2 in the game coming off his obscenely efficient and explosive rookie year, but Coleman just had his first 1,000-yard rushing season after transferring from Arizona to Washington and isn’t nearly the home-run threat that Singleton is. Singleton has a rare combination of speed and power at the running back position and a three-year track record of production. He’s closer to RB1 than RB4. 

Sam Leavitt (91, QB6) vs. Carson Beck (91, QB4)

Sure, this exercise can feel like splitting hairs when both players are 91 overalls, but then again, we’re arguing over video game ratings, so just let me make my case. Yes, Beck played in a tougher conference and, despite his turnover problems, still helped lead Georgia to the SEC Title (before his season-ending elbow injury just before halftime). However, if we ignore the competition for a moment, Leavitt, who still played in the Big 12 and led his team to the CFP with 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions, higher yards per attempt and EPA/dropback than Beck, and was at his best in the Big 12 title game against Iowa State and the CFP quarterfinals against Texas. 

The two are similar quarterbacks, who both rely on accuracy and timing to carve up defenses, particularly off play-action. However, Leavitt has more mobility, more of a live arm when outside of the pocket, and crucially, avoids negative plays at an elite level. Leavitt finished the year with a 13.3 percent pressure-to-sack ratio, much better than Beck’s 17.1 percent and a 1.1 percent turnover-worthy play rate to Beck’s 3.8; the difference between 4th and 97th best in the country. Yet Beck’s awareness rating is 96 to Leavitt’s 88. 

Carnell Tate (91, WR7) vs. Eric Rivers (92, WR6)

Last season, Eric Rivers caught 62 passes for 1,172 yards and 12 touchdowns. It was an incredible season that led him to transfer to Georgia Tech where he replaces Eric Singleton Jr., who left for Auburn in the portal. Carnell Tate, meanwhile, caught just 52 passes for 733 yards in considerably more games. 

However, the reason that Tate played more games is that he was one of the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes as the No. 3 option behind Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 overall player in the College Football 26 game and Emeka Egbuka, a first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccanneers in the 2025 NFL Draft, while Rivers played for Florida International, which went 4-8 in Conference USA. I’d take Tate over Rivers 10 times out of 10, and with more opportunities as WR2 in Columbus this season, he’ll likely turn himself into a first-round pick in next year’s draft and an easy top-five WR in the country.