Gophers QB Gets No Love From EA Sports

The landscape surrounding college football and amateur sports in general has changed dramatically. No longer are players trading tattoos and signatures for under-the-table money. The explosion of NIL allowed for players to be paid by outside entities not affiliated with the schools. Starting this year, the schools will be paying them too.

But the initial change in Name, Image and Likeness rules in college sports allowed the return of the EA Sports College Football video game franchise. College Football 25 was the first iteration of this new version, which hadn’t been released since NCAA Football 14. EA’s second re-run (CFB 26) just dropped Monday.

The Minnesota Gophers were a middle-of-the-pack school in the Big Ten in CFB 25, with transfer QB Max Brosmer under center. This season, P.J. Fleck is turning over his offense to redshirt freshman, Drake Lindsey.

Drake Lindsey gets poor ratings for Minnesota Gophers

The Gophers have something of a favorable schedule, but there is uncertainty when breaking in a new quarterback. And due to his lack of experience, those behind the player ratings in EA Sports College Football 26 lack faith in Minnesota’s new QB1, rating him a 72 overall… which is the worst rating of any Big Ten quarterback in the game’s initial release.

Projected Big Ten starting QBs ranked by EA CFB 26 ratings (OVR)

1. Drew Allar, PSU (92)
2. Luke Altmeyer, Illinois (89)
3. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA (88)
4. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (87)
5. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska (87)
6. Jayden Maiava, USC (86)
7. Julian Sayin, OSU (85)
8. Dante… pic.twitter.com/K9i1b21YTV

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) July 7, 2025

While it’s not a shock that Lindsey isn’t rated ahead of well known names like PSU’s Drew Allar (92 OVR), UCLA’s Nico Lamaleava (88 OVR), or Oregon’s Dante Moore (84 OVR). But dead last? Even behind Athan Kaliakmanis, who has a career 53% completion rate?

Sure, Kaliakmanis and his Rutgers teammates knocked off Fleck and the Gophers last season. But Athan threw for 2,696 yards and 18 touchdowns with seven picks, during his first season with the Scarlett Knights.

Athan’s 53.9 completion rate in Piscataway was still just as poor as it was during his time with the Gophers (53.3%). There is little reason to believe Lindsey can’t be a better or more productive passer than Kaliakmanis.

Put your pitchforks away for now…

Of course, it’s just a video game, and EA Sports has no insight as to how well the Minnesota Gophers Drake Lindsey will play once he steps on the field. Still, we know what guys like Athan Kaliakmanis are not. Just the hope of what Drake could be should give him a better rating than the former Gopher QB.

Related: Gophers Secure P.J. Fleck for the Long Run

Fleck brought Brosmer in for Minnesota and the grad transfer turned in one of the best quarterback seasons in Gophers history. He threw for 2,828 yards with 18 touchdowns and did so at a 66.5% clip. Lindsey doesn’t have to uphold that same bar, but he got an up close look at what a good level of success looks like.

As a freshman last season Lindsey competed in three games throwing five passes. He completed four of them for 50 yards including his first collegiate touchdown pass. There will be many more of those this year, and seeing Lindsey ascend the list in year one would not be a shock in the slightest.