Top 10 Michigan players we missed out playing as in NCAA Football video game hiatus (2024)

The calendar has turned to July and for the first time in over a decade, that is extremely meaningful for college football fans. EA Sports has resurrected its NCAA football video game, set to launch July 19. Video game and college sports fans alike are in euphoria, anxiously awaiting the game’s release.

There was no iteration of this game for the entire Harbaugh era. Unfortunately, that meant missing out on playing with some unique players who donned the maize and blue.

If you play Madden or any of the older renditions of NCAA football, you know that occasionally there is a player that just stands out when you play the game. They may not be the best overall or the most well-known individual, but they’re just always open or cause such a problem for opponents that it can change a game in your favor.

So, Maize n’ Brew thought we’d compile a list of the Top 10 Michigan Wolverines’ players we never got to play as that could have been game-breakers if the NCAA football video existed in the last decade plus. Here is what we came up with:

10. WR Eddie McDoom

Something I would do back in the day was pick a player I love and then force-feed them so they shoot up the depth chart and wreck games. Eddie McDoom would have been the exact type of player I would have done that with. The dude was electric when he had the ball in his hands, and for whatever reason, never got a large opportunity in Ann Arbor.

End-arounds, jet sweeps, RPO’s and screen passes would have been absolutely disgusting with a higher overall McDoom going into his last three seasons with my Michigan program.

There is no doubt in my mind I could have turned this raw talent into a Heisman candidate after a year or two despite having only 343 yards in his two seasons at Michigan.

9. LB Khaleke Hudson

Most football video game players either line up as a safety, linebacker or edge rusher in the game. Those three positions seem to impact the video game the most and can cause headaches over the middle for opponents. One of those guys I would have switched to often is Khaleke Hudson in the viper role of Don Brown’s defense.

He had 18.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions as a sophom*ore. His game against Minnesota in 2017 is one of the most historic in Michigan football history (15 tackles, eight for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble) and it would have happened several more times in a video game setting if I was playing.

8. RB Chris Evans

I love elite third down running backs, and Chris Evans could have been so much more in the passing game for Michigan. One of the most elite plays in real life and in the game is the mesh concept, where two receivers run shallow drag routes in opposite directions. At the same time, a running back wheels out to the right to either be matched with a linebacker or get a lot of green in the open field.

Evans would have been elite at this route in the game, and here is what it looked like against Ohio State:

Combine that with the success of draw plays in the classic NCAA franchises, and Evans would have been a spectacular back to play with in-game.

7. TE Zach Gentry

When I look for a tight end in video games, I want a big-bodied player with great hands and can make big plays over the middle. Gentry was the prototype of a player that I’d want.

At 6-foot-7, Gentry would have towered over any defensive player with east. He’d be an absolute nightmare matchup for just about anyone.

6. S Daxton Hill

Some of my favorite formations in Michigan’s Big Ten Championship runs included Hill lining up just outside of David Ojabo or Aidan Hutchinson and blitzing. He seemingly got to the quarterback in nanoseconds each time. A popular online strategy in Madden is to show blitz and bring pressure on every play to make opponents react quickly and force bad decisions. Applying the heat with a guy who would have surely had 99 overall speed would be really difficult to deal with for the opposition.

5. FB Ben Mason

I spent too long watching highlights of Mason while reminiscing on what it would have been like to play with him in a video game. In any “and goal” situations, I’d be putting the ball in Mason’s hands. The fullback dive play can be unstoppable in short-yardage situations, and Mason often capitalized on his opportunities.

Plus, he proved in his career he could catch the ball, lay devastating blocks, and even hurdle over dudes. With more wrinkles in my playbook for Mason running over dudes to death, it would be really difficult to catch on to short-yardage plays with him in the game.

4. TE Jake Butt

Similar to Gentry, Butt would have killed it in his prime on an NCAA video game. Technically, he was in NCAA 14 as a true freshman, but I cannot recall using him very often, so I thought a spot on this list was deserved.

Butt is probably the most athletic tight end in Harbaugh’s tenure (Colston Loveland could compete). He was sure-handed and kept pace with both Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh. In a world without one of those two, Butt might have been the leading receiver on multiple Harbaugh-led offenses.

3. LB Devin Bush

The sideline-to-sideline speed from Bush was next level. In the video game, I’d expect a lot of players are going to throw the ball to running backs who have linebackers in coverage or try to move outside the pocket with mobile quarterbacks. Guys like Bush can be a spy over the middle to stop quarterbacks and cover those backs on wheel routes.

I imagine myself playing with Bush on just about every down because of how versatile of a player he was.

2. RB Blake Corum

It’s a travesty we were a year removed from playing with Corum in an NCAA video game. He’s one of the best players to ever play at Michigan and his legacy will last forever. Reliving that in a college video game would’ve been a dream come true.

The one thing he did not accomplish in Ann Arbor was winning a Heisman Trophy. I’d be sure to do that on repeat to make it the most magnificent season and maybe the best career in Michigan history.

1. S Jabrill Peppers

There is no other player who could have topped this list. Peppers was a real-life cheat code at Michigan, and that would have translated immaculately to a virtual setting. With all the hype Colorado’s Travis Hunter is getting for this game and on the field this fall, I imagine it would have been eerily similar back in the Peppers era.

Not only was he a diabolical threat on the defensive side that could play multiple positions, but he also returned kickoffs and punts. It’s very likely he would have been a 99 overall player who you could plug in on offense in Wildcat formations or even in the slot.

All-in-all, Peppers played 11 different positions at Michigan and was a difference-maker at every single one. It’s like when you create a player and give them 99 overall stats in each category in-game and then break every record imaginable. That’s the kind of real-life player Peppers would have been in the NCAA video game franchise.