Analyzing NUFB’s ratings in College Football 27
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EA Sports recently dropped its third edition of its college football video game, College Football 27, just 51 days before the start of the season.
That means its time to take a peek at how it rated an intriguing Northwestern squad.
Now before we dive in, let’s address one of the biggest elephants in the room.
No, Jackson Carsello is not in the game yet. It’s very possible and probable that he does make his way there after a couple patches and updates are made, but as of now, the Northwestern roster we’re looking at is as of this past spring.
Not the biggest concern for ‘Cats faithful — rather, the biggest concerns are about the most crucial pieces of the roster: how Caleb Komolafe will look after having a breakout season, how does Robert Fitzgerald’s tenacity get replicated and, probably the biggest stressor of all, does EA think Aidan Chiles will rebound after a subpar season?
Here are the answers to your questions:
Offense: 80 OVR
This seems pretty spot on, considering the polarity of the offense.
NU has one of the best running back rooms in the Big Ten, maybe not Ohio State or Oregon tier of productive, but a level below. Not a bad place to be.
It lost its leader in Cam Porter in the offseason (really, after its matchup against FCS Western Michigan last year), but did more than enough to make up for his production behind Komolafe’s outburst that began in Week 4 alongside Joesph Himon II, who doesn’t get his flowers for finding ways to be versatile even when David Braun’s options in his personnel grew thin. Adding Gavin Sawchuk from the best rushing offense in the ACC in Florida State creates an underrated three-headed monster in the backfield that relieves Komolafe of some pressure in the run game and opens up Chip Kelly’s playbook.
But what hurts the ‘Cats is their uncertainty in the pass game.
Northwestern only had one top-30 receiver in the Big Ten. That was all-conference third teamer Griffin Wilde, who made 71 receptions for 880 yards across his 13 starts. The next closest receiver was Hayden Eligon II: 37 catches for 521 yards, 52% of which came in the final three games of the season.
Take this all with a grain of salt — Preston Stone seemingly had some confidence issues playing his first full season as a Power Four starting quarterback. It wasn’t until his bowl game-clinching performance against Minnesota that he’d find his SMU swagger.
Braun and Kelly seem to be betting the house on the duo to repeat their phenomenal seasons as WR1 and WR2, respectively. Drew Wagner could be the wild card of the offense from the slot position, but didn’t see many receptions a season ago. But he’s proven to be a deep threat — much like Wilde — with blistering speed over the middle.
Key Players
Ezomo Oratokhai: 89 OVR
SPD: 68 | STR: 95 | AGI: 71 | ACC: 77 | INJ: 96 | AWR: 88
There’s a reason why Braun trusts Ezomo Oratokhai enough to play the most important position on the offensive line, despite never having played it before.
Oratokhai was one of the best offensive linemen in the Big Ten last year, going 12 straight games without allowing a single QB hit. His 81.5 PFF Pass Blocking Grade put him in the top-10 amongst conference linemen, subsequently earning him an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. No matter what Carsello’s role is this season, much of the O-line’s success will center around its future cornerstone in Oratokhai.
Caleb Komolafe: 86 OVR
SPD: 90 | ACC: 91 | AGI: 88 | STR: 79| INJ: 93 | STA: 90
An un-wise man (me) once said that the only thing separating Komolafe from the upper-echelon of Big Ten running backs was a “lack of breakaway speed.”
After I said that in late October, he proceeded to post 110+ yard performances against Nebraska and USC.
I ate my words immediately.
Komolafe has a real chance at the All-Big Ten First Team this season. There’s no questions or smoke and mirrors around who’s going to be the primary ball carrier. It’s him. It always was going to be him. And he will deliver. Again.
Griffin Wilde: 86 OVR
SPD: 89 | ACC: 90 | AGI: 88 | AWR: 90 | CAT: 86 | CAR: 75
Wilde’s numbers are based on his explosive route running and his effectiveness in the mid-pass game, exemplified by a 91 rating in that category (not listed above). That seems to be where Northwestern succeeds with him, with his most effective routes (from my eye test) being his outside comeback route and the three-level dig. With a quarterback like Chiles trying to regain his confidence (much like Stone), hitting those routes will be invaluable to his long-term success.
Aidan Chiles: 80 OVR
SPD: 86 | ACC: 88 | AWR: 83 | PWR: 93 | STA: 90 | BRK SACK: 79
Chiles is a true pocket passer who’s going to depend on his offensive line to give him time to go through his progressions. That shouldn’t be an issue. The question is whether or not those decisions will be the correct ones.
During his time last year at Michigan State, Big Ten defenses completely fooled Chiles with layered scheming — almost NFL-like disguises that caused rushed decision making and led to his benching last season. Now having a year to reassess and get his wits about himself, his senior year will be a “prove it” year for him. His ratings haven’t dipped substantially from last year, but he’ll need to show that he can control an offense before he finds himself rated any higher than this.
Defense: 78 OVR
NU allowed 330 yards per game a season ago on defense. Not desirable at all, but middle of the pack in the Big Ten. So why is this defensive rating so low?
Well, the D-line is the major hole for the ‘Cats as of now after losing Aidan Hubbard to the draft and Anto Saka to Texas A&M. An immense amount of pressure falls on senior Michael Kilbane to step up and cause havoc off the edge, as well as Jamaal Johnson in doing his part in stuffing the run game.
Brendan Flakes had his best season to date on the interior in 2025, highlighted by a phenomenal game against Purdue where he looked like the best player on the field at times. Building upon it is a non-negotiable for NU to win at the line of scrimmage. EA doesn’t seem to think that’s likely.
In the secondary, Fitzgerald and Ore Adeyi seem to be the only two experienced DBs that NU can depend upon. Rob Fitz was the bulldog of the Big Ten last season, leading the entire conference with 70 solo tackles. Adeyi had his playing time limited, as he was coming back from injury, and struggled in coverage at times, but seemed to hold his own in man defense quite a bit.
Besides those two and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Braden Turner, the DB room seems to have more questions than answers. Jon Jon Stevens did see some playing time a season ago and seems to be the next safety up after Fitzgerald, but wasn’t nearly as effective and struggled against teams like Oregon early on. Alijah Jones was also in the rotation last season and is expected to take a step up, but the 2025 sample size was too small to make a true judgement on what his ceiling is.
Coverage will be an interesting issue for Tim McGarigle’s defense to navigate, but they can find security in CB1 Josh Fussell, one of the Big Ten’s best returners who led all underclassmen in the conference with nine pass breakups in 2025. There’s not much more praise to sing for a guy who stood out the most last season on NU’s defense except that having him back for another two seasons is pretty nice for Braun and Co.
Key Players
Josh Fussell: 86 OVR
SPD: 91 | ACC: 93 | STA: 92 | MAN COV: 83 | ZONE COV: 85 | PRESS: 84
In my opinion, I think EA lowballed Fussell just a bit. Besides an uncharacteristic game against Michigan, he was lockdown to the boundary against opposing receivers — not just any receivers, but oftentimes, an opponent’s No. 1 or No. 2. Maybe on a larger scale, Fussell doesn’t fare as well as he did against SEC squads, but the Big Ten in 2025 produced some of the best receivers its ever had. This coming year, his coverage ratings will be adjusted once NU encounters receiver corps like Ohio State’s and Indiana’s — teams that will truly test Fussell.
Robert Fitzgerald: 85 OVR
SPD: 88 | ACC: 89 | STA: 91 | TOU: 92 | TKL: 85 | PWR: 86
EA got it right with Rob Fitz, making him an unrelenting DB who’s not afraid to stick his nose into the turf to win on the scrappiest plays. He’s the workhorse and the engine of the defense and, in my opinion, the most likely to don the coveted number one this season because of how integral he is to the program. He will be THE guy that determines success vs failure in the NU secondary.
Braden Turner: 83 OVR
SPD: 88 | ACC: 91 | AWR: 80 | PUR: 85 | MAN COV: 86 | ZONE COV: 84
Turner had the best game of his career in a near-upset win against the Wolverines at Wrigley Field: a pick, a fumble recovery and a PBU — all three plays made in crunch time. When teams throw over the middle, this is the guy they need to worry about. Turner isn’t afraid to jump routes and make plays for the Wildcats, and it works more often than not. A massively underrated player in the conference.
Michael Kilbane: 82 OVR
SPD: 79 | ACC: 84 | STR: 82 | TKL: 91 | PWR: 82 | BLK SHED: 81
EA’s perception of Kilbane is as such: he’s got the tools, he just needs some time to show it. And they’re right in a sense.
Last season, Kilbane got his first taste of the starting job at the edge rusher position and did pretty well with that responsibility. Now, he’ll take that job over in a full-time capacity. That’s where EA becomes apprehensive — not because he can’t handle it, but because he’s never had that job before at the college level. It’s a matter of time before he proves EA right in suggesting that he’s in for a huge season.
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