Five Underrated Virginia Tech Hokies in EA College Football 25

No rating inspired this piece more than the absurd 62 overall rating that redshirt freshman WR Takye Heath received. This is simply absurd given full context and one that may get rectified rather quickly this fall.

Heath had emerged as the backup slot receiver early last season before his season ended after one play in his collegiate debut against Rutgers due to injury. Prior to that, Heath had proven himself in practice to earn that backup job over Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw who is rated in the low 70s, which to be fair is a reasonable rating for XYT.

Heath has impressive quickness and speed that would largely carry this rating, but should have him much higher than a 62. The fact of the matter is that I wouldn’t be surprised to see Heath in the two-deep as the backup slot over XYT.

EA was way off with their rating of Heath, one that I expect will be rectified quickly once the season starts.

Tucker Holloway’s rating as a wide receiver makes sense in my view, but the fact that this game rates him as a 70 as a punt returner is simply insane to me. Part of that may be the mechanics of how the game comes up with the specialists ratings based on a player’s attributes (which to be fair, I have no insight on), but him being that low as a punt returner makes absolutely no sense.

For his collegiate career, Holloway has averaged 15.5 yards per punt return with one touchdown in 2022 over the course of 29 punt returns in 2022 and 2023. He was seventh in yards per punt return (12.9) and sixth in punt return yards (258) nationally during the 2023 season. These are not the numbers of a 70 overall on punt returns but rather a guy who could be an All-American as a punt returner at some point in his collegiate career.

I’m not sure I need to say much more than that to be honest. The numbers show it, the eye test shows it, and every possible data point shows the fact that Holloway should be in the 90s as a punt returner, not a 70.

Part of the challenge with giving Keonta Jenkins an overall is the fact that the STAR LB is more of a hybrid type position that is hard to recreate on a unique basis in a video game. Instead, that leaves Jenkins simply as an outside linebacker which likely has an impact on him being a 77 overall.

However, even with that context, it’s still absurd to me that Jenkins is only a 77 overall given what he did last season.

This is a guy who earned All-ACC Honorable Mention honors in 2023 after having 50 tackles including 10 for loss plus two forced fumbles and one interception. He’s also graded out with a 63+ overall season grade from PFF each of the past two seasons.

While Tech’s linebackers struggled as a whole last year, Jenkins was a serious bright spot with the STAR LB spot proving to be the strength of the linebacker group as a whole. He fits the pass coverage linebacker type that you can find for plenty of LBs in the game, but he’s also proven himself to be a playmaker defending the run. However, Jenkins is the fifth highest rated VT LB behind Sam Brumfield, Keli Lawson, Jayden McDonald, and Jaden Keller.

Jenkins is an All-ACC level playmaker who should be in the low 80s as Tech’s best linebacker.

DT Kemari Copeland: 74 Overall (84 Strength)

This is mostly about the strength rating, but the fact is that Kemari Copeland being a 74 overall with an 84 strength makes no sense.

We’ve all seen the incredible squat record that Copeland set earlier this summer, which also caught the attention of JJ Watt, Randy Moss, Tyron Taylor, and more. If you do research on social media, you’ll also see that Copeland actually has some weightlifting background in him as well and is clearly one of the strongest college football players across the country. There’s plenty of information out there to show Copeland’s strength should be in the mid to upper 90s rather than an 84.

Copeland also seemed to get in the Spring Game at the start while Kelvin Gilliam was a little later in a sign that Copeland might just be a tad higher on the depth chart and closer to battling Josh Fuga. For comparison, Gilliam is a 78 overall while Copeland is a 74 overall.

I can understand some of the hesitancy to rate a JUCO transfer who wasn’t a high-profile recruit previously too high. However, Copeland’s strength rating should be at least 10 points higher and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up in the upper 70s by the end of the season.

This one may surprise you some, but none of Tech’s receivers have greater upside than Da’Quan Felton who is absolutely on the same level as Jaylin Lane and Ali Jennings who were rated in the mid 80s.

In his first season at VT, Felton was a star leading the Hokies in receiving yards (667), receiving touchdowns (8), and yards per reception (17.6) while ranking second on the team in receptions at 38. Despite that, Felton is a few points lower than Lane even though Felton proved on the field that he was on the level of his fellow two starters.

He also made big strides throughout the season finishing the season with six games with at least three catches and 80 receiving yards including four in the final five games of the regular season.

One specific attribute that didn’t make sense to be was his 86 speed. This seems to be the case of those at EA making a little bit of an assumption about Felton given his size around 6’4’’ that he can’t be that fast. However, anyone who watched Tech last season saw the home run ability that Felton showed blowing past defenders over the top for big plays and touchdowns. That’s one attribute that should absolutely be higher around the low 90s at least rather than 86.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Felton even in the upper 80s by the end of this season given the upside that he has with his tremendous blend of speed and size, and the growth he showed in his first season with the Hokies.