Ranking which former Wisconsin Badgers should appear on the cover of EA College Football 25
If you missed it Friday, EA Sports gave college football fans the news they’ve been waiting for: EA College Football 25 is on the way.
There will be a full reveal in May, but the release date will be this summer. Chris Vannini of The Athletic wrote “the official release date has not been announced, but it will likely be July.”
Related: Which Big Ten football team has the toughest conference schedule in 2024?
Speaking as a longtime fan of the sport and former player of the NCAA video game series, this is incredible news.
Yes, there was a period of turmoil with litigation surrounding amateurism and name, image and likeness. But with it now being essentially a free market, it’s great news that the video game is returning.
Now for the important part of this article: Which current or former Wisconsin Badgers would’ve made the best cover athletes?
The rules: They must have played for the Badgers after 2014, the last time the game was released. Any Wisconsin Badger from 2014 to the present day.
Here are the top candidates:
Honorable Mention
QB Joel Stave (above)
QB Tyler Van Dyke
WR Quintez Cephus
QB Alex Hornibrook
FB Alec Ingold
15. Chez Mellusi (2021-present)
Injuries have crushed Mellusi’s Wisconsin career thus far, so this ranking is a bit of a projection. Wisconsin running backs always carry significance, so a big year from the veteran back would vault him into the national conversation.
Mellusi is extremely talented. All he needs to do is stay healthy.
14. Will Pauling (2023-present)
Pauling led the Badgers with 837 receiving yards in 2023. Those numbers are expected to explode in 2024 and beyond.
This is also a bit of projection, as he needs years of top-end production to enter the national conversation. But Pauling is arguably the best offensive player on the Badgers entering 2024, which should count for something.
13. Tanner Mordecai (2023)
Mordecai is an unlikely candidate because of Wisconsin’s disappointing 7-6 record last season. But he was one of the highest-touted transfer quarterbacks, especially after his stops at Oklahoma and SMU.
When it comes to quarterback, there haven’t been many other Badgers signal-callers that were more universally known.
12. Jack Sanborn (2018-2021)
Jack Sanborn was the face of Wisconsin’s best defense of the last three decades (2021). His longevity helps his case, plus the off-the-charts statistical production.
Also, Sanborn turning into a real NFL contributor doesn’t hurt.
11. Keeanu Benton (2019-2022)
Benton, like Sanborn, was a mainstay on the stellar 2021 defense. But his impact was seen clearer in the years that followed. Wisconsin’s 2022 defense was good when Benton was on the field, and poor when he wasn’t. Then the program’s 2023 group was average in the position Benton occupied.
I think he’s one of the more underrated Badgers of the last decade, so he deserves a place on this list.
10. Leo Chenal (2019-2021)
Chenal and Sanborn would be my duo on the cover of the video game. But if I had to go with individuals, Chenal would be an easy choice.
His 2021 season (again, on one of the program’s best all-time defenses): 115 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks and two forced fumbles.
9. Jake Ferguson (2018-2021)
Barry Alvarez’s grandson would be an easy choice for EA Sports if it’s looking for an easy caption.
But Ferguson was also Wisconsin’s most productive receiver throughout his career. He’s one of the Badgers’ best receiving threats — receiver or tight end — since 2014. And thanks to television broadcasts dropping the grandson nugget over and over again, he’s also one of the program’s most well-known.
8. Graham Mertz (2019-2022)
Mertz would be an easy choice if the decision was made after Wisconsin’s blowout win over Illinois to start the 2020 season.
But even after that, the now-former Badger will finish his college career with five years as a starting quarterback and a ton of national television exposure. That exposure has been good and bad. But every fan of the sport knows about Graham Mertz.
7. T.J. Edwards (2015-2018)
Edwards led Wisconsin’s 2017 defense as the program came up 50 yards short of a Big Ten Championship, an undefeated season and a College Football Playoff appearance. We can’t rewrite history, but Edwards is easily one of the faces of the program dating back 10 years.
6. Jack Coan (2017-2020)
I’m biased, but this list can’t omit Wisconsin’s best quarterback since Russell Wilson.
Like Edwards in 2017, Coan’s legacy would be viewed differently if Wisconsin hadn’t blow the 21-7 lead at halftime of the 2019 Big Ten Championship game. That 2019 team may have been the best of the Paul Chryst era, yet it lost to an all-time Ohio State team and then Justin Herbert-led Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Coan is a few bounces away from being a much bigger star.
5. Braelon Allen (2021-2023)
Here come the running backs.
First is Allen, who was one of the sport’s biggest stars as only a 17-year-old in 2021. He rushed for 3,494 yards and 35 touchdowns over his three-year Wisconsin career.
If you polled a random college football fan on Wisconsin players from the last three years, everybody would say Allen.
4. T.J. Watt (2015-2016)
One more linebacker.
Watt’s stature has obviously grown since he became the NFL’s best pass rusher of the last 5-6 years.
Even without that, his 2016 season in Madison included 15.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Plus he’s the younger brother of future NFL Hall of Fame defensive end J.J. Watt, which doesn’t hurt.
The Watt family duo could be its own cover.
3. James White (2010-2013)
I am making one exception to the post-2014 rule to include James White.
White finished his Wisconsin career with 4,015 yards and 45 touchdowns, serving as a key piece in one of the best multiyear stretches in Wisconsin football history.
Then he went on to win multiple Super Bowls and score the game-winning touchdown in the Patriots’ overtime victory over the Falcons in Super Bowl 51. He’s a star.
2. Melvin Gordon (2011-2014)
Melvin Gordon would have the second-best chance to be a cover athlete.
His 2014 season is legendary: 343 carries, 2,587 yards and 29 touchdowns, plus the single-game record for most rushing yards.
1. Jonathan Taylor (2017-2019)
The Wisconsin Badger with the best chance at making the cover of an EA Sports College Football edition is Jonathan Taylor, I’d argue the best running back in program history.
He played three years in college and recorded 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns on 926 rushing attempts. Importantly, he was the main piece of the Badgers’ successful 2017 and 2019 seasons.
Taylor was an incredible college player and a sport-wide star. He’s the easy No. 1 on this list.
