Caleb Hawkins has already made a strong enough first impression in the Big 12 that EA College Football 27 has him sitting right near the top of the conference’s running back list.
The new Oklahoma State back is rated at 91 overall, tied for second among Big 12 backs in the game. That puts him just behind BYU’s LJ Martin, who checks in at 92. West Virginia’s Cam Cook, a transfer from Jax State, is also at 91.
For Hawkins, that’s a pretty quick rise after arriving in Stillwater following a massive true freshman season at North Texas. The Shawnee, Okla., native transferred to Oklahoma State after his head coach, Eric Morris, took the job with the Cowboys, making the move feel like a natural fit.
The bigger question now is what separates Hawkins from the very top spot. In the game’s ratings breakdown, two categories stand out: strength and awareness.
Martin holds a 12-point edge in both of those areas. He’s listed at 6-2, 220, while Hawkins is 6-2, 200.
Martin is also the more seasoned player, entering his fourth year of college football, while Hawkins is only in his second. That experience gap could easily show up in the awareness rating, especially with Martin approaching 500 game reps in the backfield carrying the football, not counting his work as a receiver or in blitz pickup.
Hawkins, by comparison, carried the ball 231 times last season.
Where Hawkins gets the edge is in the more explosive athletic traits. He grades higher than Martin in speed, agility and change of direction, which are the kinds of numbers that lean more on raw ability than on accumulated reps. Both backs have plenty of talent, but Hawkins looks like the more dynamic athlete in those categories.
The production backs that up, too. Martin rushed for more than 1,300 yards last season. Hawkins went for 1,434 yards and set a freshman record for touchdowns.
So while Martin gets the nod at the top in the game, Hawkins is already close enough to make the conversation interesting. The schedule won’t give us a real head-to-head matchup this season, which is a shame given how tightly the two are ranked. That’s the kind of showdown video games are built to create.
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