Top rated players for Indiana football in EA Sports College Football 25

It’s here. EA Sports College Football 25 has been released and it’s the first time in nearly a decade fans can play with their favorite teams — including the Indiana football program.

Indiana — who is coming off of a 3-9 record in 2023 — enters a new era of its program with the hire of head coach Curt Cignetti. Cignetti has been adamant and vocal about changing the narrative around the Indiana football program. So far, the excitement over the last six months has been a dramatic shift from the end of the 2023 season.

That excitement has been in large part due to the massive recruiting wins from Cignetti and his staff from the transfer portal.

“I think the biggest thing was we flipped the roster right off the bat,” Cignetti said last month. “My first day on the job with 10 guys in the transfer portal, starters on offense and half of the defense. And we were able to keep about half the people we wanted to keep, but I knew I needed to bring a lot of good faces in. We were able to bring 22 transfers in, in December. All those guys are two-, three-year starters from winning programs and quite a few from JMU, which really wasn’t the plan when I took this job. It just happened.

“But you’re talking about a championship culture, or people think the way you want them to think and we kept the right guys in the program from last year’s team and got rid of some dead wood, some guys needed to and those guys assimilated quickly. And we’re not there yet, you know, but nobody in the country is there.”

He’s followed that up by big wins for the 2025 class — highlighted by his strong month of June.

So, with the release of EA Sports College Football 25, which Indiana football players are rated the highest? Well, five of the top six are transfers.

Who ranks highest for Indiana in EA Sports College Football 25?

The top two players for IU are James Madison transfers — D’Angelo Ponds and Elijah Sarratt.

Ponds was a Freshman All-American last year after totaling 52 tackles, 12 pass deflections, two interceptions and a fumble recovery, so it was evident why he was such a coveted late addition to the portal. His rating is 87 overall — highlighted by a 96 overall rating for speed.

Then, it is Sarratt who is ranked 86 overall. He finished 2023 with 82 receptions for 1,191 yards and eight touchdowns. He had six 100+ yard games with four in a row to end the season. He was named an All-Sun Belt selection in 2023. His addition to Indiana was critical at the time with still some question marks about the wide receiver room and who would be a go-to player for the Hoosiers offensively.

The first returning Hoosier is wide receiver Donaven McCulley who is coming off of a standout and breakout season. He totaled 48 receptions for 644 yards and six touchdowns in 2023. Over the last five games, McCulley had 420 yards and five touchdowns. His standout performance was against Illinois, grabbing 11 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns. His 48 receptions are the most by an Indiana football player since Whop Philyor in 2019.

He ranked 10th in receptions in the Big Ten, sixth in receiving touchdowns and 14th in yards per catch. His ranking in EA Sports is 85 overall.

At the quarterback position, projected starting QB Kurtis Rourke is fourth on the list at 84 overall. The Ohio transfer has 33 starts under his belt in his collegiate career. He has thrown for 7,651 yards and 50 touchdowns. In 2022, Rourke threw for 3,257 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and four interceptions before an ACL injury ended his season. He was still named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Indiana’s full team ratings are as follows:

Overall – 82

Offense – 80

Defense – 78

Below are clips of Indiana football from EA Creator Network.

SEE ALSO: 2024 IU Football Position Preview — Quarterbacks

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