AUBURN — The wait is almost over for Auburn football fans.

It's been nearly 11 years since EA Sports released a college football video game. Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson donned the cover then, and the Tigers, as a team, were rated as an 88 overall. That ranked 26th out of the 126 programs in the game. SEC schools slotted above Auburn included Alabama (99), LSU (93), Georgia (91), Texas A&M (91), Florida (90) and Ole Miss (89). Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina were all tied with Auburn at 88.

Maybe the Tigers will be in a similar spot this time around. Fans will find out in July, as the game is making a much-anticipated comeback; EA Sports announced Thursday the game will be officially released July 19. Those that preorder it will get three days of early access, beginning July 16.

With all the recent buzz, below is a list of who we think will be Auburn's top-five-rated players in the game. Note that specialists have been omitted.

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5. WR Cam Coleman (82 overall)

This one may be risky, considering Cam Coleman is a freshman. But players don't get five-star status for no reason. Coleman, tabbed by the 247Sports Composite as Auburn's best offensive signee of the modern recruiting era, also flashed his potential at A-Day with four catches for nearly 100 yards and a touchdown. Listed at 6-foot-3, the young playmaker should be able to climb the ladder — both in real life and in the video game — and make some contested catches.

T-3. EDGE Jalen McLeod (87 overall)

Senior pass rusher Jalen McLeod tallied totaled 37 pressures in his first year with the Tigers in 2023. That was tied for 61st in the country amongst the 1,016 players Pro Football Focus listed as edge defenders. The only SEC edge defenders above McLeod were Alabama's Chris Braswell (56) and Dallas Turner (55), Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. (52), Florida's Princely Umanmielen (45), Missouri's Darius Robinson (42) and Tennessee's Tyler Baron (41). Three of those players — Braswell, Turner and Robinson — were recently drafted into the NFL.

T-3. RB Jarquez Hunter (87 overall)

It'll take 538 yards in 2024 for Jarquez Hunter to break into Auburn's list of its top 10 most productive rushers of all time. If he can muster 1,000 rushing yards — he tallied 909 in 2023 while missing the season opener — he'll be outside the top five, less than 200 yards behind Ben Tate. Hunter's career average yards per carry of 6.2 yards shows his consistency, which should be rewarded with a more-than-solid rating in the video game.

T-1. TE Rivaldo Fairweather (88 overall)

With Georgia's Brock Bowers off to the NFL — he'll be playing games for the Las Vegas Raiders next season — the door is open for Rivaldo Fairweather to be the best tight end in the SEC. The former Florida International transfer posted 394 receiving yards and six touchdowns during his first season on the Plains in 2023. With another offseason working alongside quarterback Payton Thorne, expect those numbers to go up.

T-1. LB Eugene Asante (88 overall)

There's something to be said about consistency. Linebacker Eugene Asante, in a breakout campaign last season, had 10 games in which he tallied at least five total tackles. He had eight or more tackles on five occasions, and he reached double digits thrice. With a high motor and some recognizable speed, Asante should be fun to play with virtually, roaming the middle of the field and hawking down RBs trying to bounce runs outside, just as he does in real life.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Predicting top Tigers in EA College Football 25