LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you asked 100 college football players to choose between a preseason All-America nod or a top rating in EA Sports College Football 26, you wouldn't need a replay review to count the votes.
The game is back (again), and this year, it's personal. Thanks to NIL, player likenesses are in — but now, so are performance-based rankings. And if you think players aren't keeping tabs on where they land, you're kidding yourself.
At the top: Ohio State wideout Jeremiah Smith and Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs. Translation: Columbus will be just fine.
Closer to home, all three local Power Four programs landed at least one player in the top 100. Indiana, fresh off a College Football Playoff run, leads the way with three. Louisville and Kentucky each placed one.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
EA has Indiana ranked No. 18 nationally with an 85 power rating — and yes, they're the only local team in the Top 25.
Here's a look at the local stars making waves — on the field and on the screens — heading into the 2026 season.
No. 19 – Elijah Sarratt, Indiana receiver (93 overall rating): It's not hype that Sarratt is in this lofty spot — it's homework. The 6-foot-2-inch receiver isn't going to wow you with athleticism — he does it when the ball arrives, and he's emerging from the collision. He has 42 contested catches entering this season. And he doesn't just catch balls. He catches doubts, shrugs them off and drags them six yards downfield. He was a zero-star recruit, which means the recruiting services didn't just overlook him — they didn't know he existed. He was a figment, a rumor. All he has done is transfer up — twice — and keep delivering. Now, they're making sure they get his name right before the NFL Draft. But not before one more anticipated season in Bloomington.
The Louisville Cardinal mascot plays EA Sports College Football 26 on the stadium Jumbotron in a video released by the football program to celebrate the game's release.
No. 21 – Isaac Brown, Louisville running back (93 overall): As a freshman, the book on Brown was that he's 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 190 pounds and a headache the size of Florida. He was a three-star recruit, which means, “maybe he'll return kicks.” But when Brown arrived, he detoured around the depth chart, ignored the doubters, and ran straight into the national conversation. As a true freshman, he led every Power Four running back in yards per carry — 7.2 of them, to be precise. That's not a stat line. That's a getaway car. He's not big. But neither is a firecracker. And both will ruin your evening if you don't see them coming. Now he heads into his sophomore season as a preseason All-American and a national Top 5 running back as ranked by Pro Football Focus.
No. 37 – D'Angelo Ponds, Indiana cornerback (92 overall): He isn't built like your typical shutdown corner — but don't tell the Big Ten that. The 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound Florida speedster arrived at Indiana by way of James Madison, where he burst onto the national radar with 15 pass breakups as a true freshman. A former state champion in both the 100 and 200 meters, Ponds brings world-class recovery speed to a position where half a second is the difference between a pass breakup and six points. Last season, he earned first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors after anchoring one of the stingiest defenses in program history. He opened the Washington game with a 67-yard pick-six and never looked back. Yes, he's small. But he plays bigger than his size — aggressive, instinctive, fearless. His burst and ball skills caught the notice of NFL — and video game — scouts. For all the concerns about his frame, what Ponds lacks in bulk, he makes up for in sheer disruption.
No. 52 – Mikail Kamara, Indiana defensive end (92 overall): He isn't built like your typical edge rusher — but quarterbacks don't care how tall you are when you're on their back. At 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 260 pounds, the Indiana junior led the Big Ten in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (14.5) in 2024, proving that leverage, violence, and burst still matter more than measurables. His breakout performance — 4.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks vs. Michigan State — was a clinic in controlled chaos. His hands are heavy, his pass-rush plan is polished, and he explodes off the snap like he's got somewhere better to be. He's not perfect — a tweener frame, some stiffness in space, and past medical concerns give NFL evaluators pause. But he's already Sunday-ready, with real life video game numbers to match his rating.
No. 85 – Joshua Braun, Kentucky offensive lineman (91 overall): He is a 338-pound paradox — a road grader with a tennis background, a classical studies major with a mean streak, and an aspiring theologian who happens to be one of the best pass blockers in the SEC. Now at his third school — Kentucky, after stops at Florida and Arkansas — Braun brings size, experience, and smarts to a Wildcats offensive line looking for leadership and muscle. He's logged 38 career starts and posted an 82.6 PFF pass-blocking grade that ranked among the best in the SEC last season. Braun isn't just big, he moves well — able to pull, pick up blitzers, and stay upright through contact. What he's lacked in continuity, he's made up for in production. With a full season in Lexington and a power-run scheme that suits his style, Braun could quietly play his way onto NFL radars, and figures to be well familiar to game-players looking for holes in CFB 26.
Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
