Projecting LSU's top-10 highest rated players in new CFB 25 game

We are getting ever so close to the highly anticipated release of EA's CFB 25 game. It has been nearly 11 years since the last college football video game released, and fans across the nation are eagerly awaiting the return of one of the most successful franchises in gaming.

One of the biggest areas of conversations around games such as NCAA CFB and Madden are the player ratings. They're always controversial. Some players are rated too high, some too low, and no matter what, fans are going to advocate for their team's players being underrated.

We're still awaiting the official announcement of player overalls (For Madden, they usually come out a few weeks before the game), so I thought we would take a stab at predicting the Tigers 10 highest rated players in this year's game.

With all that said, let's hop right into it.

Will Campbell is one of, if not the best offensive tackle in all of college football. He's been a two-year starter and is entering his junior season for the Tigers as a projected top-five to top-ten pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Campbell should, and probably will be one of the highest rated players in the entire game. For games like Madden, we typically see around 15ish players rated at a 97 or higher. I think Campbell is a top-15 player in all of college football, so I would expect him to be anywhere from a 96-98, and I landed at 97 overall as my prediction.

I'll tell you what, if Harold Perkins was utilized the correct way and wasn't surrounded by a bad defense, I think he would have a case for a 99 overall this year. But the chips didn't fall the right way and he had a pretty slow start to the season after breaking onto the scene in 2022.

Perkins will certainly be one of the highest rated defenders in the game, but it's very rare that EA gives out 99's to linebackers (at least in Madden). I think Perkins could definitely be higher, but he just feels like a 95 overall to me.

Emery Jones should also be one of the higher rated tackles in college football, but since he plays next to Campbell, I think there's a chance he flies under the radar a little bit in the initial ratings.

Jones is coming off a very strong sophomore season and is a projected late-first to early-second round draft pick next year. While I think there's a chance he could be as a low as an 89, I think he deserves to be a 91+ overall when the game releases.

Mason Taylor was thrown into the fire as a true freshman and completely exceeded expectations. He caught 38 balls for 414 yards, and on top of that he made two grabs which lifted the Tigers over Alabama in 2022.

Entering his sophomore season, Taylor was set to be a huge part of the Tigers offense, but a sprained ankle early in the season derailed his 2023 campaign where he caught 29 balls for 260 yards and one touchdown in the regular season. Luckily for Taylor, he got healthy and had a really good ReliaQuest Bowl where he caught seven passes for 88 yards with Garrett Nussmeier under center.

I think EA could rate him as low as an 86 because of this passed season, but good tight ends are few and far between so I think they could end up giving him a rating as high as 90, but I'm settling with an 89 rating as my prediction.

Garrett Nussmeier might be the hardest Tiger to put a rating on for this game. Everyone knows he's mega talented, and he showed it in the Tigers ReliaQuest Bowl win, but he has such a small sample size, so I don't know if they give him a 90+ overall.

With high-upside players that don't have a ton of experience, EA typically gives them a high-80's rating, so I think Nussmeier will be an 87 or 88 overall to start the year.

Miles Frazier has moved all around the offensive line during his time at LSU, but this passed season he really settled into his role at right guard and had his best season yet.

In pass protection, Frazier surrendered just one sack and six pressures in 785 snaps. He helped Emery Jones anchor the right side of the offensive line, and I feel he could be rated higher than an 87, but I also think that number feels just about right for Frazier.

Garrett Dellinger feels a lot like Frazier for me. He also did a tremendous job holding down the LG position this season, but I also don't think EA is going to view him as an elite guard in their initial ratings.

Typically, really good players that aren't necessarily 'elite' get rated in the high 80's, so I could see Dellinger and Frazier rated anywhere between an 85 and an 89, it just depends on how their rating evaluators feel about the Tigers guard duo.

Much like Nussmeier, Kyren Lacy feels like a player who's hard to rate. He has a ton of talent, but hasn't emerged as the No. 1 option. That is until this year.

Lacy had a huge spring where he looked like the bonafide first option in the passing game. We've seen flashes of what he can do the last two seasons, but he's suffered from drops and being behind two first round talents.

I think EA may underrate Lacy a little bit to start the year, but he's a candidate for a massive overall update during the season.

CJ Daniels is sort of the opposite of Kyren Lacy when it comes to ratings, but I could see him also being an 86 overall.

Lacy has all the talent in the world, but hasn't quite shown he can be the guy in an offense. Daniels on the other hand has proven he can be the guy at a lower-level school, but needs to show he can do it at the power five level.

There's a very good chance I'm way off on this one and he ends up as an 81 or 82, but I think EA respects respects his production and gives him somewhere between an 84 and 86.

As we got down to our tenth highest rated player, things started to get very hard. There are a lot of guys on this roster who I feel could be between an 82 and an 86, so I did my best to predict who I think the final guy on this list would be, and in the end, I gave the nod to Greg Penn.

Penn has worn the purple and gold for three seasons now and has been a very steady force at the linebacker position. He't not recognized as one of the top linebackers in college football, but he is one of the most consistent guys on the field every game.

When I look at Penn's numbers and grades from last season, his stats scream 85 overall to me. Not someone who's going to be a first round pick, but someone who is a very good player and will make a big impact on this defense.

Some honorable mentions go out to Chris Hilton Jr., Jacobian Guillory, Bradyn Swinson, Zy Alexander, Josh Williams, Whit Weeks, Kaleb Jackson, Zavion Thomas, Javien Toviano and Sai'vion Jones. I think all of those guys will be an 80+ overall, but I don't think they'll crack the top-10 highest rated players on the team.

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