Last summer, Jeremiah Smith arrived as the highest-rated player in EA Sports College Football 26 with a 98 overall rating. One edition later, the brand decided even a 98 wasn’t enough for this Ohio State star. For the 2027 edition, they handed him something no player had ever received at launch.

On Wednesday, EA Sports College Football officially announced that “the first ever 99 OVR at launch belongs to Jeremiah Smith. #CFB27.” The Buckeye junior WR just made history as no player in the revived EA Sports College Football franchise has ever entered the game with a 99 overall rating. 

Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza eventually reached that mark during College Football 26 after leading the Hoosiers to a national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. But he earned that rating months after the game was released. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Smith is getting it before the game even hits the shelf.

It’s a pretty clear sign of how EA Sports views the Ohio State receiver. Through just two seasons, Jeremiah Smith has caught 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 29 touchdowns while becoming one of the biggest stars in the sport. He was a key piece of the Buckeyes’ national championship run, earned unanimous All-American honors as a sophomore, and has already taken home Big Ten Receiver of the Year twice. This year could be his final college football season and everyone’s hoping for an even bigger accomplishment. 

Despite all the hype and noise that surrounds his name, Jeremiah Smith is a man of few words. His reaction to the announcement was quite brief with just one emoji on X, “😤”

Not everyone is shocked with this rating because leaks back in May suggested Jeremiah Smith would be the only player in College Football 27 to open with a 99 overall rating. Wednesday confirmed what many already suspected. But the gap between him and the other players points out the talent difference.

Indiana OT Carter Smith and Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore are tied behind him at 97 overall. Missouri tackle Cayden Green and Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy sit at 96 followed by Miami WR Malachi Toney at 96, while Oregon QB Dante Moore checks in at 95. Even Ohio State QB Julian Sayin, one of the most hyped QBs in the country, opens at a 94 overall. This shows Jeremiah Smith is sitting on a different floor.

Jeremiah Smith isn’t the only Ohio State star dominating the game

If EA’s ratings reveal anything, it’s that Ohio State remains one of the sport’s gold standards. The Buckeyes enter College Football 27 as the second-highest-rated team in the game with a 90 overall rating, tied with Indiana and trailing only Oregon’s 91. Their offense is the best in the game at 92 overall while their defense ranked seventh nationally at 88. Then there’s Ohio Stadium.

Last year, The Horseshoe ranked third among the toughest venues in the game. This year it climbed to No. 2, trailing only LSU’s Tiger Stadium and jumping ahead of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium followed by Georgia’s Sanford Stadium and Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game itself also promises a more immersive experience. New voice analyst Joel Klatt revealed the massive effort behind the production.

“We probably did shoot thousands of lines, maybe 4,000, maybe more lines during the course of those 88, 90 hours of work.” he admitted on The Next Round. 

That’s the kind of detail EA is banking on as it prepares for launch. But before players hear Klatt’s voice, before they experience the updated stadium atmospheres, and before they take Ohio State onto the field, they’ll see one number that stands above everything else. 99. For the first time in EA Sports College Football history, that number belongs to Jeremiah Smith on Day One.