4/1/2024 football Edit

Projecting the highest rated Scarlet Knights in College Football 25

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

EA Sports recently revealed their first trailer for the newest edition of their college football video game series, as the game will make it's return for the first time since July 2013.

Now with that being said, we here at The Knight Report take our best guess at which 10 Scarlet Knights we expect to be the highest ranked players in the game.

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PREDICTED RATING: 74

THE SKINNY: Putting up 7.5 sacks over the past two seasons, Bailey has been one of the better players on this Rutgers defense over the past few years. Now this year seemed like a bit of a let down compared to his 2022 season where he led the team in sacks, but he was still able to get to the quarterback from time to time and played pretty solid. So I think slotting him at 74 overall is more than fair.

PREDICTED RATING: 75

THE SKINNY: Not many offensive players on this list, but Pierce makes the list as he's easily the best linemen on the team and one of the better players on the offensive side for the Scarlet Knights. Now the Big Ten is filled with talented edge rushers so it wasn't all great last season for Pierce, but he held his own against a good amount of them. He's one that could see a rating increase throughout the season depending on his development.

PREDICTED RATING: 76

THE SKINNY: One of the most sure fire tacklers on the team, Loyal had quite the season for his first full go around as a starter. Some might even argue that he's the most sure fire tackler on this side of the ball, but none the less he had a good year and gets a rating to show for that.

PREDICTED RATING: 76

THE SKINNY: Longerbeam took a giant leap in play this past season, as he's turned himself easily into one of the better cornerbacks in the conference. However he's still a bit of unknown to many outside of Piscataway, so you can argue his ranking should be higher, but for now I think a 75 is more than fair.

PREDICTED RATING: 77

THE SKINNY: Miller put up some crazy numbers last season at the FCS level, leading all receivers with 1,293 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 92 total catches. Now it's hard to tell how the ratings guys will consider that into their ratings, but I think the mid 70's are probably the bare minimum here considering the huge numbers, but it wouldn't shock me if he was slightly higher.

PREDICTED RATING: 77

THE SKINNY: Yeah yeah it's a little low, but if EA Sports goes off the same grading system as they use for Madden then it will be heavily based on recent production and while he did have a good seven games, the injury will likely effect his rating a bit. That being said, Powell could very well be the highest ranked defensive player on the team by season's end.

PREDICTED RATING: 78

THE SKINNY: Little bit of a down year for Aaron Lewis this past season, but he's still proven that he can be a dominant pass rusher and the game should reflect that. Again, he's another guy who could easily jump in the ratings with some good performances.

PREDICTED RATING: 78

THE SKINNY: The former Minnesota transfer defensive back had one heck of a year for the Scarlet Knights and has made quite the name for himself as he was Honorable Mention per the media and Fourth Team All-Big Ten per Phil Steele this past season. Expect an even bigger year for him in 2024 before he makes the likely move to the NFL.

PREDICTED RATING: 83

THE SKINNY: I'm kind of intrigued to see how Rutgers decides to use Toure this year since he moved back and forth between edge rusher and linebacker throughout his several years on the banks. Regardless it doesn't matter what position he plays, since he's proven to be arguably the best player on the defense and thus he gets a rating to reflect that.

PREDICTED RATING: 86x

THE SKINNY: This past season, Monangai was easily the best player on the Scarlet Knights, as well as being one of the best RBs in the Big Ten Conference. With him having the season he just had, it's hard not to see him somewhere in the 80's to start, but if he can repeat his performance from last season then he could easily climb up into the 90's.