Every year from about 2001-2012, I waited patiently from the time school ended until the second week of July when the newest iteration of the NCAA Football series would come out. I would quickly fire it up to see what my Trojans’ overall was and then begin playing with the team, getting a sense of the players’ abilities in preparation for the upcoming season.

I would test out QB #12’s ability to throw the long ball, WR #3’s ability to catch in traffic, RB #32’s speed, and DE #94’s sack-making potential.

Now in the age of Next-Gen consoles and NIL, the days of generic players are gone. My experience with College Football 25 felt much different than that of the NCAA series, since I didn’t have to spend a day inputting all of the correct names to the Troy roster (though that has resulted in me not knowing rosters quite as well as I did in high school).

As we approach the release date of the newest version, College Football 26, I wanted to take some time to share what little information is available on Troy so far.

Note: These rankings are highly unofficial and can definitely be changed by and after the release date, so take them with a grain of salt.

Team Ratings

For CFB 26, Troy clocks in at a 73 overall. The offensive side of the ball is a 75, the defense rates a 72.

These are certainly solid numbers, but when you compare the Trojans to CFB 25, you can see the true damage wreaked by the Transfer Portal. In the previous title, Troy was a 76 overall, with the offense coming in at 76 and the defense being a 77.

If I was a betting man, though, I would wager that Troy’s actual ratings come in somewhere closer to a 74/75/73 in the actual release.

Player Ratings

The following ratings come from the website Team Crafters. Again, take these with a grain of salt. This is just the ratings as reported thus far are preliminary and subject to change.

They can give you a decent idea of how the Game 1 Depth Chart might look, but there are a lot of factors to consider. From here, we will go position group by position group.

Quarterbacks – 76

Goose Crowder leads the pack with a 76. Adam Ford appears to be a generated player, as Troy does not have anyone with that name listed on the roster. The current fourth quarterback is Ui Ale, a junior quarterback from Carson, California.

This could potentially be Ale, but we won’t know until release.

Tucker Kilcrease, another name familiar to Trojan fans, rates as a 70. A newcomer from Paducah, Kentucky, Jack James debuts in the College Football series as a 64. I’m willing to bet that goes up in the coming years.

Running Backs – 72

The half backs are Troy’s second highest rated group in CFB26. Rated at 78, Trey Cooley will be pretty “cool” to play with with his 92 speed, 87 agility, and 90 stamina. The 67 strength seems to be his only low point.

Jordan Lovett is also rated as a 78 and really looks to be the opposite of Cooley, essentially meaning Lovett’s strengths are Cooley’s weaker areas.

Tae Meadows follows right behind them at a 77 and his 89 speed could be great when he is taking handoffs, or even on kick/punt returns.

Akeem Fitzgerald seems like an interesting player, if he existed. He is also not on the roster.

The closest player on the roster to his build is Dennis Palmer, a 5’10”, 200-lb sophomore out of Jensen Beach, Florida. AC Walters, however, does exist and comes in at a 72.

Jarris Williams, Dakarai Shanks, and DeWhitt Betterson Jr. are listed on the roster, but not given scores on Team Crafters.

Fullbacks don’t get a category grade and Troy only has one listed: Treo Donald, a 59 overall sophomore. He shouldn’t get offended by this category omission, because he doesn’t exist.

Wide Receivers – 76

Rara Thomas comes in as one of the highest rated players on the CFB 26 Trojan squad at an 82. He has a lot of the stats that makes me think he’ll win quite a few people a Heisman if you can get him in space.

The ever-reliable Peyton Higgins comes in at 74, providing a respectable #2 for #2. Tray Taylor, Zeriah Beason, and Dariyonne Bryant come in at 72s. Beason, however, is not currently listed on the 2025 Troy roster, according to the Troy website.

Mojo Dortch is a 71, but has 92 speed. If his progression in game can accelerate like his 94 acceleration, then I’ll be calling him Mojo Torch.

Kristian Tate (69), Roman Mothershead (65), and Jackson Thomas (64) round out the listed Wide Receivers.

Jwyon Boyd, Ky McNulty (I’m sorry for the amount of The Wire gifs I will use when you make a great play.), DJ Epps, and Jah’Marren Jackson were not given grades through Team Crafters.

Tight Ends – 78

Ethan Conner leads the position group with a 78. Trae Swartz and Jackson Worley, who both saw significant playing time in 2024 come in at 70 and 67 respectively. Chad Barham, a 66, was redshirted in 2024.

Adam Pemberton is a freshman who comes in at a 64. He is not on the roster, and by previous experience with this, probably not on planet Earth either.

Marquis Harris, Fabian Rogosch, and JT Tang are on the 2025 roster, but not included by Team Crafters.

Colton Walls is mistakenly coded as a Tight End, when in reality, he is Troy’s long snapper on punts. That explains his less than ideal 58.

Offensive Line – 74

For the O-line and D-Line, it was a little easier to talk about it position by position, rather than as a whole group.

Eli Russ leads the whole group with an overall 82. Zerian Hudson follows him with a 71. Noah Mercer rounds out the left tackles with a 64.

Elijah Prather leads the left guards with a 75 and Malik Ellis is right behind him with a 73. Kyler Gibson and KeShun June both come in at 64, but June is not listed on the roster.

At center, Vysen Lang rates a 74. Tyler Cappi and Tyler Bell follow behind with 64s. Kletus Watts has a 59, which is good for not existing.

At right guard, Matt Henry clocks in at a 71. Patrick Screws Jr. has a 68 overall, while Justin Mills rounds out the position at 65 (and he also doesn’t exist).

Right tackles, along with the left, are the biggest position grouping on the offensive line with five players listed. Garner Langlo leads the group with a 70. Casey Fua’au (67), Paul Bowling (65), Gabriel Elfman (63, non-existent), Caleb Ash (63) round out the offensive line.

Jatorian Blackmon, Sharvon Pierre, Gavin Bowlin, Ricky Timbers, Tra’jon Townsend, Billy Gilmore, and Obatare Jackson were not listed.

Defensive Line – 78

Elijah Davis leads all players with an 81. Kedarius Berry (65) and Andy Abraham (64) don’t exist. Trashun Griffin rounds out the left ends with a 64.

Julian Peterson is the highest rated defensive tackle at 77. Luis Medina and Kam Curry are right behind him with 75s. Jamel Fils-Aime has a 70 overall. Taleeq Robbins brings a 69 to the group and Dylan Mann adds a 67 to the DTs.

Jah-Mal Williams leads the right ends with a 79. Eric Shaw could be good at 75, but he doesn’t exist. Donnie Smith finishes the group with a 66.

DJ Jackson, ShuMond Johnson, RJ Shamberger, and Jermaine Paramore were not listed.

Makel Green (listed as Bandit) was not included with any defensive groups.

Linebackers – 75

Both Jordan Stringer and Devin Lafayette lead linebackers with 82 overalls. Jordan Perry comes in at a 71 and Steven Catteledge is a 70.

TJ Thompson and Mark Britton (non-existent) are 67s. Luke Hodge and Kam Weaver are 66s. Keyshawn Campbell is a 63.

Malaki Pegues is listed as a Bandit, but nonetheless comes in at a 57. (If my experience in CFB 25 with him in particular is any indication, he will be much better than that rating would have you believe.

Jordan Ferrell and Gavyn Baker were not listed.

Secondary – 70

Trent Henry kicks off the cornerbacks with a 72. Kaleno Levine has a 69 overall. Jaquez White (67), Zeke Robinson (66, non-existent), Dorion Jackson (66, non-existent), and Shemar Welch (66) finish out the corners.

Jabari Strait, Marlin Odom, Amare Garrett, LaMar Croskey, Jalen Peterson, and JaQueraius Thomas were not listed.

The non-existent Grant Barton leads the Free Safeties with a 70. Joe Lott and KC Bradford come in at 67. The John Cena-esque Kamal Matthews is a 64. Bandit AZ Williams finishes the FS group with a 63.

For the Strong Safeties, Justin Powe and Steven Sannieniola both clock in at a 71. Rondell Carter has a 67 and Keion Dunlap has a 65.

Safeties not listed were Daivon Nelson, David Daniel-Sisavanh, OJ Vaughan Jr, JT Alvis, Jon Bocchino, and Antonious Steele.

Kickers/Punters – 75

Unfortunately for the other kickers, Scott Taylor Renfroe was the only one listed, coming in at an 80 overall. That means that Paddy McAteer and newest Troy legacy recruit Jaden Tynes were not listed.

Evan Crenshaw was listed at a 70 and is the only punter on the roster.

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Remember, folks, ratings can change by release time and I am merely the messenger, a mere bringer of news. If you want to discuss them on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments, feel free to let me know your thoughts.