EA Sports College Football: Who Should Be On The Cover?

May 26, 2023

We're still over a year away from the release of EA Sports College Football. To waste the time, fans and professionals alike enjoy speculating on different aspects of the game. One of those conversations is of course, based on the cover. While we still have another year of NCAA football ahead of us before the game releases, it doesn't mean we can't discuss who deserves a cover spot?

Here are some coaches and players who deserve a chance at being on the cover for EA Sports upcoming College Football game.

One of the nation's most popular players will return to shake things up in the 2023 CFB season.

It seems rather fitting that Harrison Jr. could earn a spot on the cover. He'll compete to enter the 2024 NFL draft, but until then, he'll have to prove himself to NFL scouts in 2023. He was named the Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award after for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. Harrison Jr. returns as OSU's #1 receiver option, and one of the best receivers in the nation.

He took over the reigns after Jaxon Smith-Njigba missed most of the season due to injury. With C.J. Stroud the two made an extremely powerful offensive duo. It remains to be seen how he will perform with a new QB next year. Whether it's Kyle McCord or Devin Brown taking snaps, they can take a sigh of relief knowing they'll have a great receiver to help them out.

The Harrison family name makes its return to the professional league, and college football games returning to the video game world, it seems symbolically fitting. It would be cool to see both Harrison Jr. and his father share the cover together. A passing of the torch, for both father and son, and for the game series as it starts anew.

There were six players ahead of Corum in the Heisman voting in 2022. All those players have left for the NFL, giving him the perfect chance to win one himself. Corum announced he'll be playing at Michigan for a fourth year despite a strong performance in 2022. He's coming off his best season where he earned over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and scored 19 touchdowns. All of this, despite missing the last two games.

His 2022 season was unfortunately cut short due to a knee injury. However, Corum is determined to comeback and make a name for himself. While everyone was talking about Bijan Robinson in 2022, 2023 will hopefully be Corum's year.

Halfbacks don't get a lot of love nowadays. People dismiss the position, saying it isn't as important. While it's true many RBs don't have much of a career after their first few professional seasons, we think Corum can maybe be an exception to that rule. A cover appearance on EA Sports' latest game would be a pretty awesome send off too.

The last cover athlete for a NCAA Football game was Denard Robinson. So perhaps it would be biased to put another Michigan player in the game. However, Corum's skill can't be denied.

Who says coaches can't be on the cover?

Kirby Smart hasn't lost a football game since December 4th, 2021. Even then, that loss was to No. 3 Alabama, one of the only other powerhouses in the nation right now. However, Smart got his revenge in the CFP National Championship just one month later after Georgia rallied in the fourth quarter to bring home the title.

2023 will mark Smart's eighth season with the team. So far, he's only lost 15 games, and has appeared in the National Championship three times now. With 6 Bowls and Two National Championships under his belt, its fair to say this guy knows what he's doing.

We'll see how well Georgia performs now that many of their star defensive players have joined the NFL (or more accurately, the Philadelphia Eagles). However, even if Georgia understandably regresses and maybe misses the playoffs, we're sure that won't diminish his accomplishments.

But Smart has done enough in less than a decade to prove he's worthy of a cover spot. He's taken the league by storm, and it will be refreshing to see a relatively new face on a brand new college football game series.

Williams is currently speculated to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. If he's not #1 overall, then he'll likely be the first QB drafted and won't be on the board past the third or fifth pick. As a true freshman he went 5-2 with the Oklahoma Sooners and scored 27 touchdowns in just seven starts.

He really came into fruition after transferring to USC his sophomore year. His tremendous play earned him the Heisman trophy in 2022. He led the Trojans offense, which ranked third in yards per game at 506 yards per matchup. The Trojans also ranked third in passing yards per game at 335 yards per meeting.

Before transferring, USC suffered a terrible 4-8 season, their worst since 1991. It's safe to say Williams' play and leadership helped bolster an offense to be one of the best in the nation.

What's nice about Williams is that in an age of dual-threat QBs, he can both pass & run. He threw for 42 touchdowns in 2022 and ran for 10 more. He's also extremely careful with the ball, only turning it over seven times in 2022 (5 interceptions, 2 lost fumbles). That's a little bit over a 7:1 Touchdown:Turnover ratio.

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Being the first USC heisman since Reggie Bush in 2005, Williams is a stud. He'll have one more year to show his playmaking abilities before likely declaring for the NFL draft. Williams could and arguably should be the first player to headline the new series of college football video games.

Again, who says coaches can't be on the cover?

Yeah this is a pretty obvious choice right here, but what did you expect? The seven-time national champion has brought nothing but success to the Alabama football program. Every year his players are always getting taken early in the NFL draft, while he's recruiting new ones with insane levels of talent. Not only has Saban been one great school in Alabama, he's also been with other amazing programs like Ohio State (DB), Michigan State (DC/DB), and LSU (HC). He won a championship with LSU back in 2003.

For the better part of the last 50 years, Nick Saban has been in a major figure in College Football history. He had a couple of brief stints in the NFL in which he wasn't as successful. But that doesn't take away from the impact he's had on the sport at the collegiate level.

No coach has ever been on the cover of a NCAA game. Saban won't likely break this tradition. However, we think if they did, he'd be a great exception. We just had John Madden on the cover of Madden NFL 23, so who knows. Understandably though, most fans will want an athlete.

Saban did play DB back at Kent State? Does that count?

Honorable Mentions:Here are some players and coaches who we think also deserve some recognition. They would also make great contenders for the game's cover.

Massimo Marchiano · 2 days ago

Massimo Marchiano · 1 week ago

Massimo Marchiano · 2 weeks ago

Considering the first College Football Video game from EA Sports centered around Walsh, it seems appropriate for the series return. Walsh coached Stanford for two years before going on to coach the San Francisco 49ers for 10 years. Three Super Bowls wins later he returned to Stanford for three more seasons. Although his college coaching career wasn't as successful as his NFL tenure, he's still got a rich legacy.

Madden NFL 23 honored legendary head coach John Madden by putting him on the cover. It would be a nice way to honor Walsh, and the history of college football video games, by putting him on the cover.

The Heisman award winning QB was the first athlete to be on a NCAA Football cover after appearing on NCAA Football 98.

While his NFL career didn't shape up to what he wanted it to be, he was a phenomenal college player. The first player with a 170 QB Rating for two back-to-back seasons, Wuerffel deserved a spot on the 98 cover. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and his awards show why. Wuerffel was a:

He also led the Gators to four SEC Championships, and a National Championship. He ended his illustrious collegiate career with a 52-20 victory over Florida State in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. In his four years at Florida the team went 45-6-1. Obviously credit goes to the whole team, but plenty belongs to Wuerffel as well.

It would be a stretch to convince developers on the cover. Not many people know who he is outside of Florida, and he barely played in the NFL. But since it technically isn't impossible, it would be cool to pay homage to him.

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