So, we know Arch Manning did some last-minute negotiating and just got into the new EA Sports College Football 2025 game.
Did part of that negotiating include his in-game rating?
Awful Annoucing’s Ben Axelrod has a story (Arch Manning rating raises questions about ‘College Football 25’) speculating it’s highly possible.
Manning is currently sitting behind starter Quinn Ewers at the University of Texas, and for good reason: Ewers led the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff last season, and a loss in the semifinals to Washington.
Oh, by the way, Ewers (one of the players on the cover of the game) and the ‘Horns also just happened to go into Tuscaloosa, Alabama and beat the Crimson Tide for Alabama’s only regular season loss – and Nick Saban’s final regular season loss, as it would turn out.
At any rate, Manning is the back-up at Texas. And his rating in the new game?
An 87 overall.
Manning got $50,000 large for getting into the game to begin with, AND he gets an 87 overall without really any playing time whatsoever?
“There’s no denying that Manning’s rating is suspiciously high,” Axelrod writes, in the story on awfulannouncing.com. “An 87 (out of 99) rating is typically indicative of a high-level starter. Manning only played in two games as a true freshman, qualifying for a redshirt season in the process. For comparison’s sake, Ewers — a 2023 second-team All-Big 12 selection who is entering his third season as Texas’ starter and is a projected first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft — is only five points higher at a 92 overall.”
We’ll know what EVERYONE’S rating is on Tuesday, when the game is released on multiple platforms – and everyone is sleepy on Wednesday from being up all night playing it.
