Nebraska football virtual gridiron legacy: The Blackshirts' EA ratings history

In the first part of my two-part series, I examined the Nebraska football team's offense throughout the history of the NCAA football series. This time, I’m switching to the defense to compare the 2024 defense to past iterations of the game. The Huskers' defense was the best it had looked in years in 2023, but despite all the talent returning, no Blackshirt even cracked a 90 overall in the latest edition of EA's College Football 25. For a list of all Huskers player rankings returning to NCAA Football 2003, visit my website.

Nebraska football defensive tackles

Tied for the best overall Husker in game history is Ndamukong Suh with a 97 overall in NCAA Football 2010. Suh and teammate Jared Crick made up the best duo of defensive tackles the Huskers have had in a game. However, the current Huskers rank as the second-worst DT unit in a game.

Nash Hutmacher, 85 overall, is tied with NCAA Football 2013 Baker Steinkuhler as the 17th-best DT in game history. The current team’s second defensive tackle, Riley Von Poppel, comes at just 74 overall behind a freshman-year Suh. This is a unit that I think will improve in future game updates but is currently ranked second to last for all Husker DTs.

NU's defensive ends

The current Blackshirt defensive ends have nowhere to go but up, coming in as Nebraska's worst edge-rushing unit in game history. Adam Carriker and Chris Kelsay were the Huskers' gold standard at the defensive end, each coming in at 93 overall. Ty Robinson is a 77 overall, tied with Randy Gregory in his only in-game appearance in NCAA Football 14. Jimari Butler is the Husker's 45th-best edge rusher to appear in the game.

Linebackers

The linebackers join the defensive ends as Nebraska's worst linebacker group. Barrett Ruud, on NCAA Football 2005 (91 overall), was the best Husker linebacker to ever appear in a game, followed by Stewart Bradley (90 overall). At an 80 overall, current Nebraska football defender John Bullock ranks as the 31st-best Husker linebacker to appear in a game.

Nebraska football cornerbacks

Despite the unit having its best in-game player, the current Husker cornerbacks are also the worst unit the Huskers have had in the game. Tommi Hill (89 overall) is Nebraska football’s best overall player in College Football 25 and the 7th-best corner to appear in a game for the Huskers. Malcolm Hartzog is a capable second corner at 82 overall, but the depth drops off for Blye Hill at 72 overall. The game is missing Ceyair Wright, which would boost this unit and likely make this a middle-of-the-pack grouping.

Safeties

The safeties are a strong point of the Nebraska football defense led by Isaac Gifford, with an 85 overall. The second safety, Marques Buford, is ahead of only the NCAA Football 2004 safeties Josh Bullocks and Jerrell Pippens. However, by NCAA Football 2005, Josh Bullocks would be tied as the best Husker in NCAA Football history at 97 overall.

Despite a strong 2023 from the Blackshirts, the returning players on EA College Football 25 don’t live up to past versions of the team. I think this is partially due to EA lowering player ranks across the game, knowing that if players perform well, they can boost their rankings in future updates. I think this year's defensive line is the best Nebraska football has had since Randy Gregory played at Nebraska. I expect Jimari Butler, Cam Lenhardt, and Princewell Umanmielen to have seen 3-5 point jumps in their overall throughout this season, giving the virtual Nebraska football Blackshirts much more depth than they currently have in the game.